Z Energy will look to begin work on increasing their Mount Maunganui bulk fuel storage by 10 million litres after receiving consent approval this week.

Announced yesterday, the additional 10 million litres of bulk fuel will be part of the storage system at the Port of Tauranga.

Z Energy has been granted resource consent to increase bulk fuel storage to the Port of Tauranga.

Earlier this year the Wellington based company received resource consent to add 25million litres of storage at the Port of Lyttleton, Christchurch to its existing 30million litre capacity – part of a $40m storage investment.

Z Energy chief executive Mike Bennetts says the granting of consent is an important step forward following detailed engineering design enabling the company to commit to the investment at the optimal time.

The Port of Tauranga is a particularly important North Island fuel import terminal and a final decision to build the additional tanks at the port will significantly improve the level of fuel security in the North Island.

'We're particularly pleased with these consents given the Port's previous announcement that it has received approval to dredge the harbour to enable larger vessels to use it.

'This opens up the potential for Z to bring in bigger import cargoes of refined fuels and store more fuel at the port, delivering potentially significant improvements in freight rates.”

Mike says combined, the two consents provide the company with strong infrastructure investment options and help make good strategic decisions around efficient fuel importation.

'When the time is right to build these new tanks, this additional storage will start to address some of the serious infrastructure deficit that has developed over the last 20 - 30 years and enable a more secure and reliable supply of fuel to New Zealand.”

Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns says the announcement is great news not only for the port but other bulk customers currently sitting in a holding pattern.

'I think that's actually some hard evidence that the dredging consent is not just for the container vessels, which I think most people get confused about.

'Given the amount of bulk cargo we have there will be many of these customers who will use the draft.”

The dredging project will widen and deepen the sipping channel from a depth of 12.9 metres to 16 metres at low water where ships of up to 347 metres in length and 14.5 metres wide will be able to pass into Tauranga Harbour.

To be carried out in several stages, the first stage of dredging – costing $40 to 450 million – will start at the end of the year taking six to 12 months to complete.

Mark is pleased to see the port go from strength to strength on the back of the confidence expressed despite the dredging not taking place until next year.

'We are having a good run at the moment, but we play a pretty important role to ensure our importers and exporters get the lowest possible price to get their products to the market and from the market.”