Shane Jones floats special economic zones as answer to NZ’s fuel security

Diesel fuels much of the New Zealand economy. (Image: NZME)

Tue, 15 Jul 2025

Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones is pushing the idea of special economic zones as the Government considers its Fuel Security Plan.The Fuel Security Plan is part of the New Zealand First-National coalition agreement.The initial focus of this was the anger of NZ First MPs over the closure of the Marsden Point oil refinery.This means New Zealand no longer imports crude oil and refines it, and now just imports refined fuels.The idea of restarting local refinery options has been dropped as too expensive and not adding much to national fuel secu...

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