Energy Minister David Parker on Friday afternoon released details of proposed measures to deal with an emergency disruption of oil supplies, calling for public feedback on the development of an Oil Emergency Response Strategy by November 10.

Parker said the Ministry of Economic Development was developing this strategy in consultation with other agencies and stakeholders to make sure the country was ready to respond to any future emergency disruption in oil supplies.

He said an effective response strategy would help minimise the effects of a disruption on New Zealand, and ensure the country was able to meet its obligations as a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

“Voluntary restraints would be introduced first, moving to mandatory measures only if the severity of the situation requires it," he said.

“The discussion document canvasses a fixed sales requirement, to discourage hoarding, a speed limit reduction, and rationing as potential mandatory measures.”

He noted such measures would only be implemented in response to an emergency oil supply disruption.

Parker said “car-less days” were not favoured, partly because of their limited success when implemented by the government in the mid-1970s in response to world oil shocks.

Then, vehicle owners had to nominate a day each week that they would not use a particular vehicle.

This is the second IEA-related response from the government in recent months.

In June, Parker said his government was calling for tenders to ensure the country met IEA requirements to hold at least 90 days of oil reserves. New Zealand currently has only about 60 days of net oil imports.