Marsden Pt refining shutdown 'should not affect prices'

A shutdown next month of part of the Marsden Pt oil refinery should not affect already sky-high petrol prices, the plant's boss says.

For two weeks in May parts of the refinery will be shut down for maintenance, cutting petrol, diesel and jet fuel supplies by 34 per cent. NZ Refining Company boss Thomas Zengerly said enough fuel had been stockpiled to cover Northland's needs during that time.

The rest of the country would be covered by imported, pre-refined fuel.

"The company's shutdown should have no bearing on the price at the pumps," Mr Zengerly said.

The shutdown could lead to more smoke and gas flaring, but the emissions would be within existing resource consents.

The processing units being shut down include:

* A 29,000 barrel-per- day platformer unit, which boosts the octane content of petrol.

* A 31,000 barrel-per- day hydrocracker unit, which breaks crude oil residue into fuel.

* A 60,000 barrel-per- day crude distillation unit.

* A 27,000 barrel-per- day unit that removes sulphur from diesel fuel.

Petrol is currently selling for around $1.71 a litre in Whangarei, with world oil prices hitting a record US$74 ($120) a barrel last week.

Although the price is up a third on the corresponding time last year, the cost in real terms is still 15 per cent below that of the second oil shock in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)