Updated April 16, 2026 — 10:04am,first published April 16, 2026 — 5:55am
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Key pointsAn out-of-control fire and a series of explosions broke out at Viva Energy’s oil refinery in Corio overnight.The refinery, in Geelong’s north, is one of two in Australia and can process up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day.Production of petrol, diesel and jet fuel has been temporarily slashed, adding to concerns about Australia’s fuel supplies amid the ongoing energy crisis.Workers were forced to flee from “a bloody big fireball” when the fire erupted. No injuries were reported.The fire’s intensity has reduced but is estimated to burn for the remainder of the morning.
A major fire has engulfed the Geelong oil refinery that is one of only two in Australia, adding pressure to the country’s fuel stocks that are already in short supply due to the war in the Middle East.
The blaze at the Viva Energy refinery in Corio broke out just after 11pm on Wednesday, triggering explosions and sending a cloud of smoke towards Geelong.
The fire continued to burn out of control on Thursday morning, severely damaging the facility that supplies 50 per cent of Victoria’s fuel and 10 per cent of Australia’s fuel.
A company source, granted anonymity as they were not yet authorised to speak, said the fire had damaged two of the refinery’s gasoline production units.
Viva Energy ramped up production recently after Donald Trump’s war against Iran led to the Islamic Republic closing the Strait of Hormuz, sparking global fears of fuel shortages.
But the Geelong refinery has now temporarily cut its output of petrol, diesel and jet fuel down to “minimum rates” following the major fire damage.
Fire Rescue Victoria’s assistant chief fire officer Mick McGuinness described the refinery blaze as “quite ferocious” and said it started in the plant’s Mogas section, which helps produce high-octane fuels.
“There’s been a significant leak of liquid hydrocarbons and gases that have fuelled the fire,” McGuinness told reporters just after 8am.
He said about 50 firefighters and 10 firefighting vehicles – including FRV’s boat in Corio Bay – fought the blaze, which was contained to an area about 30 metres by 30 metres. There are no reports of injuries.
“We’d estimate at least another four to five hours of fire to be burning,” McGuiness said.
“However, we are starting to see a drop-off in the intensity of the fire, which is indicating that the pressures are reducing, and we’re getting less flow of the liquids and the gas.”
He added authorities did not yet know what caused the fire as investigators had not been able to access where the blaze started, but said Viva operators had detected a gas leak that quickly grew.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed the fire would impact petrol production at the refinery, which can process up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Viva’s website, which equates to about 380,000 tanks of fuel.
“At this point, production of jet fuel and diesel is continuing at the refinery at reduced levels for safety reasons as a precaution,” Bowen told Nine’s Today on Thursday.
“At this point, the impact is mainly on petrol production, but obviously, this is very early days.”
There were dozens of workers at the Viva plant when the fire started, and union representatives are relieved it didn’t happen at a busier time of the day.
Tony Hynds, an organiser with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, joined dozens of others on the scene outside Viva on Thursday morning.
“We’ve been told there were about 30 people on the site, most of them operators,” he said.
“When the first explosion happened they had to take off and get out of there pretty quickly. I’ve been told there was a small explosion and then two large ones, and then a large fireball.”
Australian Workers Union secretary Ronnie Hayden, who was on the scene on Thursday morning, described the scene as like a “war zone”.
“Some [workers] were pretty close to it, but they managed to run to get away from it,” he said. “They said it was like ‘a big bloody fireball coming straight for us’.”
Viva Energy’s plant in Geelong has been underwritten by significant government support to secure Australia’s two remaining refineries.
The federal government in March boosted its Fuel Security Services Payment, which kicks in during loss-making periods.
Viva has said the scheme, introduced in 2021, allowed it to spend $500 million upgrading the Geelong refinery.
Bowen said the facility would “take some time to repair” and production had been reduced as a precaution.
“This is not a positive development, but obviously, there’s a long way to go in terms of working out just what the impact is. Our advice remains to people: buy as much fuel as you need, no more, no less,” he said.
McGuinness, FRV’s assistant chief fire officer, said some flames were up to 60 metres in height.
“The fire went from a small fire through several explosions to being quite a large, intense fire,” he said.
Some residents near the Viva plant in Corio woke up last night to their houses rattling and an ominous red glow on the horizon.
“My mum rang me at quarter past 11 and asked me to step outside and look at what was happening,” said Melanie, who spoke to The Age outside a nearby childcare centre on Thursday morning.
“We hear bangs when they are doing burn-offs, but last night was different. We heard the sirens and I saw massive plumes of smoke.”
Another resident who didn’t want to be identified said they were woken up about 1am.
“I was in bed, and I was wondering why everything was rattling and shaking,” they said. “The whole backyard was lit up red.”
A warning was issued for dozens of suburbs just after 2am when a wind change blew smoke from the blaze towards Geelong.
Thousands of residents were told to close their doors and windows, and turn off their heating and cooling systems.
The warning area was downgraded shortly before 5.30am and contained to the suburbs of Corio, Norlane and North Shore, which directly surround the fire.
McGuiness, from FRV, said the elevated warning was precautionary.
“Our specialist hazmat technicians were able to determine there were no contaminants whatsoever – not only in the firefighting water, but also in the smoke that was being emitted,” he said.
Another major refinery in Texas also suffered a fire on March 23, just as oil prices spiked dramatically due to conflict in the Middle East.
On Monday, Bowen said Australia’s fuel reserves stood at 38 days of petrol, 28 days of jet fuel and 31 days of diesel.
The Geelong refinery was built by Shell, dates back to 1954, and employs more than 1100 people.
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Nick Toscano is a business reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
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