New Zealand No Longer Developed

We can dismiss New Zealand's claim that it is a developed economy. In 2022, the government allowed NZ's only oil refinery to close down. Instead, the facility now operates only as a fuel import terminal. 

The stupidity of this is obvious; New Zealand has crude oil but cannot refine it even if it wanted to, and finished fuel imports wholly rely on tankers suitable for the task and they are much fewer in number than crude oil tankers. 

NZ must fail. Its supply lines are long and its location remote. NZ is not a continental country where fuel can simply be trucked across the border, or fed by a foreign pipeline. A tanker is looking at a month, minimum, as a round trip to NZ.

But, the government report says importing finished fuels only, is the same as importing crude anyway. Who comes up with this nonsense? I'm not even bothering to link the report, it is simply worthless and not even good enough for a laugh. 

Then NZ First MP, Shane Jones has called for a special economic zone be set up around the site of the former oil refinery, to encourage biofuels and the like. Basically, this amounts to the taxpayer rewarding a company for an act of economic vandalism. I've got another approach, how about never voting for NZ First henceforth, drive these fools out of parliament.

Oil refining is a matter of national security. If you cannot secure your own resources then you're not a developed country. NZ, you're officially a laughing stock. 

Edit to add: having thought about it, this is what I think has gone on behind the scenes; the major fuel retailers and oil companies have said they wouldn't supply oil or buy the output of the refinery. Basically, they've stood over the country and the NZ government buckled. Back in the day, there used to be a NZ state owned fuel retailer called Europa. This meant fuel supplies were always guaranteed as it kept the oil companies honest. Well, that is gone and here is NZ being held to ransom. NZ politicians are as weak as weasel piss.

And the reported cost of a refinery is complete nonsense. You can buy oil refinery components off the shelf in China. You just visit Refineries R Us and choose the output you want, available off the shelf. And, I'm only slightly kidding, the refinery shop actually has a name like Gladness Bright Path Engineering and Precision Machining.