Shareholders to vote in Refining NZ conversion to import terminal

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Shareholders of The New Zealand Refining Company, are to vote next month on converting the country's only refinery to a storage terminal, according to a weekend report in the New Zealand Herald.

If approved in a shareholder vote on August 6, the plant at Marsden Pt (Refining NZ) will stop refining oil and instead become an import-only terminal, making the country entirely reliant on imported oil.

Refining NZ, CEO Naomi James said: "While this is not a significant change for most New Zealanders, a conversion to import terminal operations is a significant change for our operations and for everyone at our Marsden Pt site."

The refining operation posted an annual loss of NZ$198.3 million (USD$139 million) last year on weak refining margins, as a result of the Covid pandemic.   

The publicly-listed company has reduced production from 115,000 barrels a day to about 90,000 bpd the same level as in 1995. The refinery produces around 58% of New Zealand gasoline demand, around 85% of jet fuel demand and around 67% of diesel demand.

In April this year Refining NZ was given a 35-year consent to continue operating the refinery and to operate an import terminal if the company wants to establish one.

Refining NZ is a public NZX-listed company, owned by around 5,000 retail and institutional investors from New Zealand and overseas. 

Approximately 43% of Refining NZ's 312 million shares are held by BP, ExxonMobil and Z Energy.