What Happens if a Fuel Sample Fails the Test?

Most fuel samples that are tested do meet New Zealand's quality regulations. The few that don't generally fall outside the specifications by only a small amount.

When this happens, the oil company that supplied the fuel has to investigate why it happened (to prevent it from happening again) and take appropriate action depending on the circumstances, such as removing the fuel from sale.

Samples usually fail because the fuel has been contaminated somewhere along the distribution chain. For example, some diesel may have mistakenly been put into a service station's petrol tank.