Road tankers are being employed from outside Otago to deliver petrol and diesel supplies to Dunedin service stations as contingency plans to address low stocks swing into gear, fuel companies say.
Fuel supplies to Dunedin storage facilities are usually delivered by coastal shipping routes from the Marsden Point refinery near Whangarei, a spokeswoman from fuel company Chevron said.
However, fuel stock supplies can be compromised by a combination of logistics, weather-related hold-ups, and limited shipping access through the shallow waters of Otago harbour.
Chevron, the supply company behind Caltex and some independent operators, has transported fuel to service Dunedin stations by road tankers from Timaru this week, Sharon Buckland said.
Bad weather at sea during the week had prevented a coastal tanker from entering the harbour, she said.
BP spokeswoman Di Papadopoulos said road tankers were being used to bring supplies to Dunedin from as far away as Christchurch and Invercargill.
Dunedin service stations were not going to run out of fuel supplies, the two spokeswomen said.
Stocks sometimes ran low at the two companies' Dunedin fuel depots, which are serviced by coastal tankers.
Ms Buckland said Chevron's depot near the fuel jetty wharf at Fryatt St could not be accessed by "international cargo ships", because of the shallow draught in Otago Harbour.
The coastal tankers which transport fuel from Marsden Point have a smaller capacity.
Weather delays could leave the ships stranded in bad seas waiting for an opportunity to enter the harbour, she said.
When coastal shipping vessels experienced delays in delivering fuel to Dunedin depots, stocks sometimes ran low, Ms Buckland said.
Contingency schedules were in place to transport fuel by tanker truck deliveries from outside the region.
The coastal tanker Kakariki was scheduled to deliver to Dunedin today, weather permitting, she said.
