By June 1981, Government had given approval for the $55 million Wiri terminal and pipeline project to be added to the expansion project. Design and construction of the pipeline and terminal was started in Jan 1982 under the management of Pipetech – Murray North.

During this time, although the final expansion project price had yet to be given, JV2 (Badger-Chiyoda Downer, Fletcher Challenge) had started on procurement, site clearance and staff recruitment. The pipeline and other incidental costs brought the total figure up to US$1050 million. However, this still offered a 6% return above inflation and was considered adequate at the time. The contract was finally signed in May 1982.

From the start, the plant was plagued with labour problems. This was a continuing theme throughout the "Think Big" projects. It was probably fair to say that whilst the Refinery was getting a good share of bad publicity, the union trouble was mostly "over the fence", and the Refinery carried on with work pretty much as usual.

The expansion continued, in a rather stop-start fashion, importing skills from overseas, employing NZ tradesmen and training up hundreds in required skills. At the height of the expansion, some 5000 contractors were working on site as the expansion slowly took shape. By May 1983, construction costs were NZ$1550 million and IR problems continued to dog the site. The biggest bone of contention was that of employing overseas tradesmen. This issue culminated in a series of strikes that were exacerbated by other issues. The end result was the passing of the Refinery Expansion Projects Dispute Act by the Muldoon government followed by a subsequent prolonged inquiry.