Expansion job half complete

Press, 1 May 1984, Page 18

Expansion job half complete

The Marsden Point oil refinery expansion project is more than 50 per cent complete, says the general manager of the New Zealand Refining Company, Ltd, Mr F. E. Jacombs, in the company’s annual report. The problems on the expansion site resulted in the announcement last September that the cost of the project had increased SIOOM above the $1550M estimate given at the annual meeting in May, plus a delay of six months in the estimated completion date to March, 1986. Although industrial stoppages have played a big part in the delays and resulting cost increases, there have also been other factors, he says. These include the rejection of the flue structure, which was made in northern Europe, because of incorrectly identified steel, problems with some sub-con-tractors’ performances, and the damage to the 1000tonne Gottwald crane during its shipment to New

Zealand. The damage to the crane delayed by almost six months the lifting into place of four heavy reactors for the hydrocracker complex. In addition, a flash fire occurred in an underground control room because of hydrocarbon traces leaking through a wall. The directors expressed dismay at the delays and cost increases, and in December the contractors restructured the management of the project under a merged organisation, Marsden Refinery Constructors. The build-up of the workforce continues and a number of Australian boilermakers have been recruited for the project, with the approval and co-operation of the New Zealand unions, Mr Jacombs says. “The workforce will peak at just over 3000 about the middle of this year.” Since September, progress on the site has improved markedly and much better industrial relations are evident.