The price of petrol continues spiralling upwards to more than NZ$3 per litre thanks to international problems and government taxes, and there’s now very little we can do except take our medicine. So I thought some history on the Marsden Point Refinery — which would have helped protect us if the government had been brave or smart to have stopped shareholders from closing it to cash in — would be handy, along with some arguments for re-opening it.
Would you believe it was the Nash-led Labour government that first investigated the possibility of constructing our own oil refinery to meet increasing demand for petrol and petroleum-related products?
The site at Marsden Point was eventually chosen for the oil refinery due to its convenient location next to a deep water port, the low risk of earthquakes, expanses of flat land, and closeness to the population centres of the North Island. Construction began in 1962, but under a National government. A consortium
