NZ Refining seeks $43.5m for private storage at Marsden Point

Refining NZ is raising capital. Photo / Northern Advocate

NZ Refining went into a trading halt on the NZX while it undertook a $43.5 million share placement and share purchase plan to fund private storage services at Marsden Point.

Trade is expected to resume tomorrow.

The company, which is in the process of converting its refining at Marsden Point to an oil terminal, said private storage was a growth opportunity, providing customers with increased product supply, scale and flexibility.

Storage capacity will require an initial capital commitment of about $30m, and is expected to result in incremental revenue of about $50m on a fixed rental basis over a 10-year term.

This capacity will be progressively made available following required works from the start of terminal operations through to early 2023.

Refining NZ will undertake the equity raise through an underwritten $38.5m placement of new shares and a non-underwritten $5m share purchase plan.

The placement will be conducted during the course of today.

The 47 million new shares under the placement will be issued at a price to be determined throughout the bookbuild process.

The company, which is to be renamed Channel Infrastructure, plans to use the deep-water harbour and jetty infrastructure of Marsden Point to import refined fuel, owned by its customers.

Fuel will be stored at the Marsden Point site in existing tanks at what will be the largest fuel terminal in New Zealand.

Fuel from Marsden Point will be distributed on behalf of Channel Infrastructure's customers primarily to the Auckland and Northland markets, which make up around 40 per cent of New Zealand's fuel demand.

The company said conversion to an import terminal would reduce the company's direct carbon dioxide emissions by almost one million tonnes per annum, delivering around a third of the Government's first Emissions Reduction Budget.

NZ Refining has been the country's only oil refinery since it was established in 1961.

The move to become a terminal was in response to a steep decline in refining margins brought on by excess refining capacity in the Asian region.