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Marsden Point oil refinery expansion project underway
30 April 2008 - Source: NZ Refining and Lindsay Clark - Detailed engineering is nearly completed for the $180 million expansion project at the Marsden Point oil refinery near Whangarei, the New Zealand Refining Company says.
The project will expand the refinery’s capacity by 10-12% by 2009 to help meet New Zealand’s growing transport fuel demands.
The expansion, which the company calls the Point Forward Project, will increase refinery throughput by de-bottlenecking a crude distillation unit.
New Zealand Refining says all of the major equipment for the expansion has been ordered and site preparation is underway with construction offices and facilities being established.
The worldwide shortage of construction resources is creating some challenges with respect to schedule, the company says.
Crude oil processing capacity at the refinery will actually be increased by around 20% but because less “straight run” residue feedstock obtained from other refineries will be needed to keep the hydrocracker at full capacity, the net output gain will be 10-12%.
NZ Refining chairman Ian Farrant, said the profit of $112.1 million for the year to December 2007 was another good result, based on plant availability and healthy margins. Profits were not at the 2006 level of $135.5 million because of planned shutdowns, slightly lower margins and a stronger New Zealand dollar.
He said the plant had been very reliable throughout the year achieving availability that was world class and the envy of many other refineries.
The refinery, which is majority owned by BP, Shell, Mobil and Caltex, currently supplies over 70% of New Zealand’s refined oil including about 60% of the petrol and over 75% of diesel and jet fuel requirements.
