Skunk Juice: Giving Natural Gas an Odour

Skunk juice is so pongy that just a drop can be smelt up to three kilometres away. The stinky stuff has a similar chemical structure to the spray a skunk gives when it is frightened. Like the natural skunk spray - skunk juice doesn't wash off easily!

But what is skunk juice? Natural gas doesn't have an odour. For safety, a smell has to be added so people know when they have left an appliance on or that there is a gas leak.

But what smell to use? The answer: an extra smelly chemical brew of sulphide and methyl mercaptan called skunk juice. It is so powerful that it only needs to be added in minute quantities to the gas – equivalent to adding a teaspoonful to a swimming pool of water

Skunk juice is made in the USA and is brought in to Taranaki by ship. From there it's loaded into special tanker trucks that take it to the gasfield at Kāpuni where it is added to the natural gas before it is sent in the pipeline to people's homes.

Skunk Juice hit the news in September 2004 when the Daily News wrote: “Dozens of firefighters from across central Taranaki were called out after a gas-type smell wafted through Stratford and Eltham yesterday afternoon.

Firefighters were alerted just after 1.15pm when residents in Stratford and Eltham reported smelling gas.

Stratford Fire Brigade chief fire officer Noel Webby said the main street in Stratford, between the two roundabouts, was closed as a safety precaution for about 20 minutes while the origin of the smell was determined.

Investigations revealed the smell had come from a passing truck, heading for Kapuni's gas treatment plant. The truck was carrying a smelly substance used to help detect leaking gas, he said.”