Wellington, Dec 29 NZPA - New Zealand has secured options for 2009 to buy oil and petrol in the event an emergency is declared by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This country has an IEA obligation to hold 90 days of the previous year's net fuel imports.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee said in a statement yesterday that oil reserves had been secured, ensuring New Zealand would continue to meet the obligation.

The requirement for additional oil reserves to meet the 90-day target has declined over the past three years as New Zealand's domestic production of crude and condensate has increased. Production may increase further with the streaming of the Maari oil field next year which may avoid the need for any additional reserves in 2010.

The additional oil reserves had been secured through a global tender. The stocks were held under ticket contracts, which provided the Government with an option to purchase petroleum in the event of an IEA-declared emergency, Mr Brownlee said.

Tickets had been secured for 107,000 tonnes of crude oil and petrol for 2009. They covered stock held in Japan and Britain.

That volume compared with additional reserves of 285,000 tonnes in 2008 and 461,000 tonnes held in 2007, he said.

New Zealand's total 90 days obligation for 2009 was 1 million tonnes -- down from 1.4 million tonnes in 2007 and 1.2 million tonnes in 2008.

Most of the reserves were commercial stocks held by companies in the petroleum sector, Mr Brownlee said.

The Government had bilateral arrangements with the governments of Australia, Japan, Britain and the Netherlands enabling stocks held in those countries to be counted towards New Zealand's IEA obligations.

The arrangements required New Zealand to seek approvals for proposed quantities of tickets and included an undertaking by the host government not to impede release of stocks to New Zealand in the event of an emergency.

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