locality in Taranaki local government region, a natural gas and oil field south of Mount Taranaki (Taranaki, Mount) (Egmont), western North Island, New Zealand. Petroleum from the locality is piped to Auckland and Wellington, principally for use as a household fuel. Natural gas produced at Kapuni supplies a wide area and is conveyed by pipeline to the principal cities of North Island. The town of Kapuni, on the Kaupokonui River, is a service centre for an area that has one of the highest rural population densities in the country. It lies on a rail line to New Plymouth. Pop. (2006) 1,362.