Decision on Marsden Point refinery nears

at a time when larger, more efficient refineries in the Asia Pacific region were about to come on line. ‘‘Negotiations with Refining NZ remain ongoing with good progress being made. Z expects negotiations to conclude by the end of May,’’ it said.

A Refining NZ spokeswoman said a final decision to convert to an import terminal had not been made and any decision to do that ‘‘would ultimately be subject to approval of Refining NZ’S noncustomer shareholders’’.

Z Energy returned to profit despite a huge slide in the amount of fuel it sold during the year to the end of March.

The company’s results showed Covid having a massive impact on its business, with fuel sales volumes down 22 per cent to just under 3.1 billion litres and revenues down 29 per cent to $3.5b.

However, the company made a $57m profit, turning around an $88m loss in the previous year thanks in part to it securing $48m in cost savings.