Fuel stocks tight but Govt does not plan bans yet

Press, 3 December 1982, Page 1

Fuel stocks tight but Govt does not plan bans yet

PA Wellington The Government has no present plans to implement petrol rationing, week-end bans, or earless days, says the Minister of Energy, Mr Birch. “The key question is how long the riggers and boilermakers at the Marsden Point refinery stay on strike,” Mr Birch said yesterday. “Petrol stocks will be extremely tight over the next few days and some ports and service stations may run out of petrol briefly, but there will be no general petrol shortage.” Mr Birch said that two petrol tankers expected in New Zealand over the next few days would discharge about 35,000 tonnes of petrol. Another tanker, the Amokura, with about 24,000 tonnes of petrol, had been delayed and was now ex-

peered in New Zealand about December 23. “Petrol stocks should increase after this week-end. and so the country has between about 12 and 16 davs supply of petrol until the end of January, 1983,” Mr Birch said. “These figures assume an early refinery start-up date. Any later start-up date will mean lower petrol stocks and the Government may have to implement some measures to restrain petrol," he said.

The Marsden dispute yesterday spread to two other Whangarei construction sites.

Boilermakers and Labourers’ Union riggers working on the Portland cement works conversion job went on strike for 48 hours in sympathy with Marsden Point riggers. Riggers on the multimillion dollar conversion de-

cided on a sympathy stoppage late on Wednesday and did not turn up for work yesterday, said Mr Ron Bolsover, project manager for Wilsons Portland Cement, Ltd.

Boilermakers also decided to stop work.

Mr Bolsover said he was upset that the Portland job had been hit bv the trouble at Marsden Point.

“We are going to suffer through no fault of ours,” he said.

Work at Portland is at a crucial stage. The contractors are working to a tight programme to complete conversion of the No. 6 kiln to a dry process so that it can be fired up again before stocks run out.

Mr Bolsover said the stoppage would put the programme behind at least tw’o days. At Whangarei Engineering

and Construction. Ltd. about 70 boilermakers and labourers’ riggers stopped work yesterday in support of the Marsden Point riggers. It is believed they will hold a stop-work meeting on Monday.

The firm’s chairman of directors, Mr Eric Baxter, said the walk-out would cost the firm production time it would not be able to make

up. “We were advertising for tradesmen before the walkout and need more men, not fewer,” he said. A communications snag between the Government and the Federation of Labour thwarted early efforts to set a path for ’ resolving the Marsden Point riggers’ strike. The Minister of Labour. Mr Bolger, said yesterday that his staff had been unable to reach the F.O.L. President, Mr W. J. Knox, whom he had first tried to reach on Thursday. Mr Bolger said, “Mr Knox clearly had matters which he considers more important than getting the workers at the refinery back on stream, or at least he is unavailable for me to contact him at the moment."

The oil tanker Kotuku will sail from Lyttelton this morning with 4000 tonnes of premium petrol and 3000 tonnes of diesel for Auckland and Mount Maunganui. This will not greatly affect fuel supplies at Lyttelton. Another tanker, the Mobil Marketer, is due on Tuesday, with 7000 tonnes of premium spirits from Singapore.