A two-day strike would have taken 162 union members - nearly half the workforce - off-site and forced the refinery into shutdown and start-up mode, meaning an 11-day halt in production.
Previous bargaining came to a stop in June with the company holding out for 14-day work stints and the unions resisting on safety grounds.
Mr Abbott told the Northern Advocate on September 29 that the proposed strike had been called off after "an avenue had opened up through the Employment Relations Act to resume talks".
At the time Refining NZ said a strike would upset oil supply and had already dented the company's reputation. That could be a key influence on the shareholding oil companies' decision to make product at the refinery or import it in future, communications manager Greg McNeill said.
Refining NZ had already applied to the Employment Court for an interim injunction on the strike.
It was during the court's inquiry Chief Judge Colgan recommended the unions and company jointly apply to the ERA for facilitation under the Employment Act.
Central to the court's review was whether a strike was "likely to affect the public interest substantially, if the strike is likely to disrupt economic interests and the effects of such disruption are likely to be widespread, long-term or irreversible".
In its application to the Employment Court, Refining NZ said likely effects of the strike included: Auckland Airport running short of jet fuel and thereby creating difficulties for the airport, airlines and customers of those airlines; and a real risk, based on previous experience, that restarting of production at the refinery after the strike could take longer than anticipated due to various technical problems that occur in the start-up process, which in turn would increase the risk of a shortage of supply of jet fuel and other fuels; and customers of Refining NZ incurring substantial additional costs as they would need to arrange for alternative supplies of refined fuel at short notice, which was then likely to affect their own customers, airlines and the wider public using those airlines.
Big order now too much oil
Fearing the strike would put the freeze on jet fuel supplies and jeopardise Air New Zealand's operations, the country's four oil companies, BP, Mobil, Z Energy and Chevron (Caltex), purchased 50 million litres from South Korea. The cargo is due to arrive around October 20. Oil group spokesman Jonathan Mills said no firm resolution has yet been made about the shipment that is now surplus to requirements.
Options include absorbing it into the industry's supply system via a number of locations, depending on timing, stock levels and storage capacity.