In 2022 Channel Infrastructure, formerly known as New Zealand Refining, shut the refinery which had been operating since 1964.
Operation Good Oil spokesman Karl Barkley has been travelling throughout the country promoting the project, which aims to get shareholder control of Channel Infrastructure and reinstate the refinery.
If 100,000 people bought 100 shares each in the company, shareholders would be able to vote out the existing board, Mr Barkley said.
He was encouraged by recent interest in the project which had resulted in public shareholding rising from 46% to 52.7% by early January.
This meant the public were now the "controlling shareholders".
"I just now have got to confirm the shareholders are all on our page."
He was hoping public ownership would rise to 75%.
He had heard part of the refinery facilities, including the control room, had been "smashed up".
"Them smashing up the control room and cutting cables is probably a good thing.
"We’ll go back in there and we will get some experts and we’ll put modern control equipment in and upgrade it to a modern plant, operational for a lot cheaper than building a new refinery."
While the technology was outdated the refinery process had not changed much.
"The basic refinery can still make us 70% of our diesel petrol, 89% of our jet fuel, 120,000 tonnes of bitumen and carbon dioxide and sulphur are more by-products."
He was hoping that by June 30 he would be able to announce the refinery would be reopened.
