Government involvement with the refinery was never very far below the surface and in September ’68, they fixed a flat rate refining fee of 44c per barrel. This did not go down too well with the NZRC Board of Directors, particularly as they had been discussing an expansion since July 1967 that would obviously require financing. A pipeline to Hamilton was also proposed. However, following the discovery of the Maui and Kapuni gas fields, discussions on a New Plymouth refinery began but, for a variety of reasons, never got too far. Eventually, a progressive expansion was planned to begin in 1969 with a further stage in 1977/78, and protracted negotiations began towards this end. Originally, an estimate in the region of $54 million was suggested.