22.4 C
Auckland
Saturday, December 28, 2024

Popular Now

Disabling Refinery would be pure economic vandalism

Any action to permanently disable the Marsden Point oil refinery in the current circumstances would be one of pure economic vandalism according to Social Credit Leader Chris Leitch.

He said reports had been reaching him of things like pumping concrete into the pipes, cutting holes in pipes and other essential infrastructure, removing or disabling key electronic components, and other similar actions.

Marsden Point news

“While I cannot confirm those reports as well founded or just speculation, there have been sufficient to ring alarm bells and cause me to seek assurances that no such actions are contemplated or taking place”.

Any employee, contractor, or sub-contractor taking part in any such action should seriously consider what their position would be in the event of an enquiry if New Zealand suffers fuel shortages.

Would they want to be held responsible for participating in an action that prevented the country from keeping essential transport services operating?

In a letter sent on Tuesday to Refining NZ Chief Executive Officer Naomi James, Mr Leitch wrote “I, and I would think the 18,300 signatories to the petition currently being considered by Parliament’s Petitions Committee, along with most New Zealanders, would consider any action to disable the refinery’s capability in the current circumstances an action of pure economic vandalism”.

“I seek your assurance that the refinery is not threatened in any way by any actions that would affect its capability to operate fully, and refine crude especially while:-

(a) The Petitions Committee completes its consideration of the petition
(b) The Russia – Ukraine conflict continues and sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas production are in force
(c) There is the possibility of an escalation of that conflict to other countries in the region
(d) There is possible destabilisation of shipping between Asia and New Zealand due the recent actions of China in relation to the Solomon Islands and possible armed conflict with Taiwan”

Given the uncertainty of fuel supplies as a result of the Russia – Ukraine conflict, which could well escalate to nearby countries, the continued capability of the refinery to operate has become more critical than when the decision to move to imported refined fuel instead of refining it here was made.

Current circumstances mean a very real likelihood of worldwide crude oil and refined product shortages.

“With that possibility facing us, New Zealand’s capacity to refine the oil it produces, to at least allow some key transport, agricultural, police, fire, paramedic and search and rescue operations to continue becomes critical”, Mr Leitch wrote.

The oil companies, having got as far as convincing other shareholders and the government of the need to import refined fuel rather than refine it here because supposedly it will be cheaper, do not want the refinery left in a state that it could be easily be made operational again.

They are after bigger shareholder returns and leaving that open door would be a liability to plans to impose the refined import model on the country, so it needs to be closed quickly.
That could be achieved by either immediately commencing to dismantle to plant, making it too expensive to put back together (or so the story would go), or disabling it with the same result.

Today’s response from Naomi James appears to confirm the reports I have been receiving are all true, and that dismantling and disabling of the refinery is intended to proceed apace.
The refinery should be left in a state where it could easily be got running again, at the very least until the current uncertainty over fuel supplies is resolved.”

Promoted Content

No login required to comment. Name, email and web site fields are optional. Please keep comments respectful, civil and constructive. Moderation times can vary from a few minutes to a few hours. Comments may also be scanned periodically by Artificial Intelligence to eliminate trolls and spam.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Chris needs to change his party name. Every time I see it, I cringe. Social credit has an accepted definition today and it’s negative meaning is not what his party stands for. I don’t think they are about introducing social credit system that exists in china.
    Other than that I really like Chris’ thinking. And respect his views.

    • Its only a name, but I do get ya!
      I think their political name is SoCred, and that would be a better name to use in my opinion, so perhaps the reporter could “Fact Check” this and make a change?
      And yes Chris makes so much sense on so many levels!

  2. Holy crap what a shallow, tone deaf response Chris received from this woman.

    The point Chris makes is there are all sorts of supply chain/economic/war in Ukraine disruptions that are now in play since these idiot wonks first “consulted” with government.

    And now her response is “as you’re aware, we consulted a lot with the government…”

    Yes b@tch, we know!! The point is perhaps MORE consultation is needed, perhaps you need to remove your finger from whence the sun shines and RE-EXAMINE the situation immediately.

    It’s only the economic circumstances of EVERY PERSON IN THE COUNTRY these decisions will affect after all ????????‍♂️

    Why do we let dumb people be in charge of everything?

    • Remember “Consulted” in this day and age is “Being Told”, no consultation these days with this regime!!!!!

      Well said!

    • Because the dumb people in charge are also usually “yes people”, tasked with serving the interests of the small few, to the detriment of many.

  3. This is the the next step in taking the NZ country away from it’s people ! – they have a plan and we need to halt that plan immediately or NZ will have nothing !

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest

Trending

Sport

Daily Life

Opinion

Wellington
clear sky
15.8 ° C
15.8 °
15.8 °
67 %
4.1kmh
4 %
Sat
18 °
Sun
19 °
Mon
15 °
Tue
15 °
Wed
16 °