The national marine oil spill contingency plan helps you understand how New Zealand responds to big oil spills. You will see it is used when an oil spill is too big for a regional council to handle on its own. It is also used for oil spills that happen outside a regional council's area, but still within New Zealand's exclusive economic zone, and need a national response.

The plan is for oil spills that are beyond what a regional council can manage, or for those that need a national response. You can think of it like a big team effort to clean up the spill and protect the environment. This team effort is co-ordinated across the country to make sure everyone works together to respond to the oil spill.