Viva Energy says its Geelong oil refinery could return to more than 90 per cent of its maximum output within weeks.
In encouraging news for local fuel supplies, energy reporter Nick Toscano reports that the quicker than expected timeline for recovery from a poorly timed fire at the refinery promises to stabilise domestic fuel security as the Middle East conflict continues.
The fire at the Geelong refinery last week.Jessika Louise Wicks/FRV Geelong
In a statement on Monday morning, Viva said that damage assessments at its Geelong oil refinery, on the shores of Corio Bay, had confirmed the blaze was confined to the alkylation unit, which converts gases into a component needed in petrol. Other major processing units in the petrol-production complex were unaffected.
The fire, sparked by an equipment fault, forced Viva to cut back to minimum output levels across the facility at an inopportune time. Until last week, the Geelong refinery had been operating at full capacity, delivering up to 50 per cent of all the fuel used in Victoria, and 10 per cent of the national total.
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