N.Z. well placed—Minister

Press, 20 January 1984, Page 4

N.Z. well placed—Minister

NZPA staff correspondent Hong Kong The completion of Whangarei’s Marsden Point oil refinery expansion would put New Zealand among the countries best placed to take advantage of oil pricing trends, said the Minister of Energy, Mr Birch, from Singapore on Wednesday. Speaking after three days of briefings in Singapore, Asia’s main oil-refining and service centre, Mr Birch said he had gained a very good insight into the refinery side of the industry. The Minister spent Wednesday morning at Shell’s hydrocracker refining facility, which “cracks the heavier, or crude, end of the oil

Mr Birch said the hydrocracker expansion at whangarei would mean New Zealand could produce all the refined oil products it needed which it now imported. “I wanted to get a good briefing here on margins and capacity in oil industry refining,” said Mr Birch. He had been told margins were very tight at the refinery end of the market. As consumers such as power stations gradually eased out of fuel oil where they could, more pressure was put on the refineries, he said. • With new refinery capacity coming onstream in Indonesia and in other centres there was considerable competition and mar-

gins were down, said the Minister.

“But the good news is that those countries with hydrocracker facilities are in the best situation to take advantage of the trends when oil is cheap,” he said. “We are at present buying jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline, but when the refinery expansion is completed we will be able to produce all the products we need.” With oil prices depressed, the feed stock could be bought cheaply, he said. Mr Birch, who has just completed a visit to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, had talks in Singapore with Dr Wong Kwei Cheong, Minister of State for Trade and Industry. and other officials.

He also visited the Asia Aerospace Exhbition where Air New Zealand and a Christchurch-based aircraft engineering company, Airwork (N.Z.), Ltd, had stands. Mr Birch completed his day with a call on the New Zealand Force South-East Asia, which the latest defence review announced would remain in Singapore with only slightly reduced numbers.

The Minister was to fly yesterday to Bangkok where he was due for briefings on Thailand’s gas industry. He was also expected to be brought up to date with the findings of a New Zealand team working there on a compressed natural gas scheme.