Marsden Point Oil Refinery

Increasing demand for petrol and petroleum related products led the Nash Labour government to begin investigating the possibility of constructing an oil refinery.

The site at Marsden Point was chosen for the oil refinery due to its location next to a deep water port, low risk of earthquakes, expanses of flat land and closeness to the population centres of the North Island.

[2] The Refinery assets were transferred by the Government to the New Zealand Refining Company Limited, a consortium of the five major petrol retailers.

Marsden Point produced 70 per cent of New Zealand's refined oil needs, with the rest being imported from Singapore, Australia and South Korea.

[4] Crude oil bought by the refinery was shipped to the deep-water port at Marsden Point for refining into transport fuels for New Zealand.

The refinery was responsible for supplying:[5] The 168-kilometre (104-mile) underground Refinery-Auckland Pipeline (RAP) connects Marsden Point to the Wiri Oil Terminal in Auckland.

The pipeline is 25 centimeters (10 inches) in diameter and transports petrol, diesel and jet fuel at up to 400,000 litres (105,669 US gallons) per hour.