Reserves option: for New Zealand
NZ reserves accord with Japan
Japan and New Zealand on Monday signed an accord on oil reserves that could pave the way for New Zealand to buy options to buy oil from Japanese companies in case of emergency.
New Zealand, like Japan a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA), is required to hold a minimum reserve equal to 90 days worth of imports, but it currently does not have enough reserves domestically, prompting the need to rely on other countries' reserves, Reuters reported.
Under the IEA programme, New Zealand can count petroleum stocks in other nations if it has agreements with other countries that they will not impede transfer of those stocks in case of an emergency.
New Zealand has signed similar bilateral oil-sharing agreements with Australia, the UK and the Netherlands and bought options in 2007 from private companies in those nations to achieve the IEA target.