Stop-gap boss for NZRC as search goes on

Jerome Kerrigan

Marsden Pt refining manager Jerome Kerrigan has taken the helm of New Zealand Refining (NZRC) while it continues the search for a permanent chief executive and decides whether to proceed with a planned expansion.

With the board unable to identify a satisfactory candidate before the departure of former head Thomas Zengerly in June, recruitment has been delayed until a decision on the Point Forward project expansion is finalised late this year.

"I was asked if I would cover the position for up to a 12-month period to provide continuity and ensure we focused on the main priority for this year which is that project," said Kerrigan.

The Point Forward project involves a 20 per cent increase in crude refining capability at Marsden Pt to enable NZRC to maintain its position in the local market.

The Marsden Pt refinery is the country's only oil refinery and shortfalls are made up with imported fuel.

The refinery has not kept pace with demand for fuel as the economy has grown in the past five years.

"Whereas at the turn of the century we were doing 90 per cent of New Zealand's diesel and jet fuel, we're now heading down into the mid-70s," Kerrigan said.

"The growth probably has slowed off a little bit in the last six months or so, but even with the slower growth we'd be getting into a smaller and smaller share of the market."

But with the planned upgrade costing between $500 million and $600 million, the oil companies that own about 80 per cent of NZRC will need to balance the profitability of increasing capacity here with planned expansion projects around the world.

"As always, it's a case of convincing them that it's the right thing for NZRC, as opposed to what they would be looking at individually with their own companies," said Kerrigan.

A decision on the proposal is expected at the end of the year with a start-up of the expanded units from mid to late 2009.

The CV

* Jerome Kerrigan, 53.

* Married to Dana, no children.

* BSc (chemical engineering).

* 30 years' experience in the oil industry, with NZRC for 20 years.

* Previously worked for Shell in the UK and Borco in the Bahamas.

* Secondment to Shell in Thailand to lead the start-up of the Rayong Refinery in 1995.