Woods MeganThird ReadingHon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): I present a legislative statement on the Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I move That the Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill be now read a third time.In November last year I announced a policy package to improve the resilience of our fuel supply. A key part of that package was an obligation for fuel companies to store 21 24 and 28 days' cover of diesel jet fuel and petrol respectively on average. The Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill will help ensure we have sufficient petrol diesel and jet fuel in New Zealand to weather major disruptions to our fuel supply. Although the risk of such a disruption is very low it would cost the economy hundreds and millions to billions of dollars and this is something that we can ill afford at this time.The obligation falls on fuel importers with access to bulk storage facilities. In New Zealand this includes the five major fuel importers Z BP Mobil Gull and Tasman Fuels. The minimum stockholding level at the national level is initially set at 28 days of consumption for petrol 24 days of consumption of jet fuel and 21 days of consumption for diesel on average. The minimum stockholding levels have been designed to achieve a good balance between mitigating the impact of a potential fuel supply disruption and of avoiding disproportionate price increases at the pump.The way that the obligation method is calculated apportions the days of cover based on importers' average daily throughput. The obligation is therefore spread across the obligator parties in a way that reflects their share of the market and what they are capable of supplying.The bill has been designed to avoid unintended consequences such as decreased competition or increases in fuel prices. None the less we will carefully monitor the fuel market after the obligation provisions come into force for any signs that the bill's provisions are adversely impacting the market. The bill provides for many aspects of the minimum stockholding obligation to be changed through regulation in the future if changes are warranted in response to evolving fuel supply risks and market conditions.This is an important bill. It seeks to increase New Zealand's supply resilience to disruption scenarios. Fuel companies strive to operate efficiently in a competitive commercial environment which can incentivise them to minimise their inventory costs and plan for just-in-time deliveries of fuel. While fuel companies have generally had a good record of security of supply in New Zealand to date the fuel supply industry is evolving and demand for fuels will fall dramatically in the years ahead. Without the measures in this bill's intervention there may be few incentives for a company to hold enough buffer stocks in the country or otherwise limit the extent to which the country is exposed in the event of a major fuel supply disruption. There is no costless option for increasing New Zealand's fuel supply resilience. However the potential impacts to the New Zealand economy of a supply interruption would be significant and that is why our Government has taken action to secure New Zealand's fuel supply.I want to thank the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee for their work and consideration of this bill. I believe the changes that were made to the bill as a result of the select committee process have resulted in a better and more robust bill and I want to thank all those who have contributed to the preparation and passage of the bill. I commend this bill to the House.