Cost of living burden pushes Govt into fuel sector changes

Cost of living burden pushes Govt into fuel sector changesThe Government is tinkering with the fuel industry by giving power to the Commerce Commission to improve the sector’s security and affordability, boosting the country’s fuel supply resilience and delaying plans that reduce emissions amid a cost of living crisis. The first of the changes concerned minimum onshore fuel stocks and Government-procured diesel storage. Fuel importers and wholesalers with bulk storage facilities would be required to hold minimum levels of onshore stocks of petrol, jet fuel, and diesel. Under the obligation, fuel wholesalers must cut the total greenhouse gas emissions from the transport fuels they sell by a set percentage each year, by deploying biofuels as part of their fuel supply. The year’s delay would reportedly be compensated by adjustments on emissions intensity reduction targets imposed on fuel wholesalers in the period leading up to 2035.