Just nowThu 16 Apr 2026 at 1:28am
ASX suspends trading of Viva Energy shares
A statement from the ASX says shares in the trading of Viva Energy Group have been suspended, pending an announcement by the company which operates the refinery.
The ASX said trading will be halted until Viva releases a statement to the market or normal trading resumes on Monday.
(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
14m agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 1:15am
📹 Firefighters battle blaze at Geelong refinery
38m agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:51am
📷Visual impact of the fire reducing in Geelong
ABC News reporter Jonathon Kendall took some photos just earlier from Eastern Beach in Geelong looking towards the oil refinery.
(ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)
(ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)
44m agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:44am
Fire impacting petrol production, Vic energy minister says
Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, told ABC Radio Melbourne the fire occurred in an area of the refinery that affects gasoline and petrol production.
“It has not impacted the diesel or jet fuel directly,” she said.
“The fire is now contained. So that’s a positive.”
She acknowledged there had been a ramping down of other production units for safety reasons, but she had been assured by operator Viva Energy that there had been no immediate impact on fuel supply.
When pressed by host Waleed Aly, she was unable to answer what the medium or long-term impacts might be.
“I don’t want to be alarmist here because I don’t think now is the, you know, there’s no cause for alarm … the gasoline or petrol, as commonly known, is far more easily replaceable compared to diesel.”
1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:27am
What fuel is impacted from the fire?
Are we able to confirm the fuels impacted? I am seeing mixed reporting about diesel, petrol and jet fuel. What is impacted?
— Henry
Hi Henry,
Thanks for joining us on the blog.
From the information we have so far, the refinery is continuing to produce diesel and jet fuel at “reduced levels”.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said petrol production is likely to be most impacted.Â
“I’m sure that petrol production will continue, but it may be impacted for some time,” he said.
1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:19am
ICYMI: Fire chief officer provides update
Earlier this morning, RV Assistant Chief Fire Officer Michael McGuinness provided an update on the Viva Energy oil refinery fire.
You can watch his comments below:
Loading…
1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:14am
Authorities assessing impact on water quality
Victoria’s Environmental Protection Agency says its officers are continuing to assist and support emergency services as they manage the fire at the Viva Energy refinery this morning.
“Air quality is clearing after heavy smoke blanketed the area in the early hours of this morning,” a spokesperson said.
“Impacts on water quality is also being assessed.”
(ABC News: Tara Whitchurch)
An alert on the EPA’s website says that “due to an industrial fire in North Geelong, firewater has entered Corio Bay”.
It urges residents at Corio Bay in North Geelong to “avoid contact with water (including pets) until further notice”.
1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:09am
Energy analyst says Viva Energy fire comes as fuel ‘crunch point’ about to hit
The Viva Energy refinery is responsible for up to 10 per cent of Australia’s fuel supply.
Saul Kavonic, energy analyst at MST Financial, says the fire comes “just as the crunch point of the global fuel shortage is about to hit us”.
“The government will now have to  scramble additional fuel imports at much higher prices, on top of their existing efforts just to maintain our normal fuel import levels which was challenging enough as it is,” he said.
“This increases the risk of fuel shortages and the need for stronger demand management measures to be taken earlier.”
1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:05am
Firefighter union warns Geelong refinery blaze ‘not unexpected’
Firefighter union secretary Peter Marshall said the fire at the ageing oil refinery was not unexpected and “could have gone horribly wrong”.
“It’s not unexpected when you actually have a 1950s facility actually working at full capacity against the backdrop of the fuel crisis,” he said.
Mr Marshall said it was well known that Victoria’s firefighters were working with ageing and out-of-date equipment and now they were having to contain an extremely challenging blaze.Â
“When we talk about the equipment that’s out of date that they have to use, a facility that was probably known that was probably beyond its use by date…Â as I said, potentially it could have been catastrophic.”
United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall. (ABC News: Leanne Wong)
He said the firefighters’ union had previously raised “significant concerns” when the fire service changed the response criteria in responding to a fire at the Geelong refinery from six to eight minutes.
“This could have gone horribly wrong. It’s not far from residential areas. It is a known facility and a very old facility and we’re very lucky to have the people that we do have who are actually performing the work as firefighters.”
1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:57pm
📹Explosions before fire tore through oil refinery
1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:50pm
Witness describes ‘intense’ scene at Corio overnight
Ben Young was staying at a friend’s place nearby the refinery when the blaze broke out last night.
A friend had told him he heard explosions and they could see the fire from the Corio home.
“It was like a shockwave, he could feel it,” Mr Young said.
(Supplied: Ben Young)
He went down to the site, where he said there was a sound like an intense vacuum.
“It was a pretty loud, blowing kind of sucking noise.
“That was about it — you couldn’t hear the firies — it’s pretty quiet on the outskirts of Corio and Geelong.”
“[There were] very limited police on the perimeter, but it had just happened.”
The father of three said his kids had some understanding of what was happening in Iran and the flow-on effect for the fuel prices their parents were paying.
Mr Young said he was concerned about the possible consequences for petrol prices, but that: “I’ve got a few jobs to make it all connect. I guess I’m lucky like that.”
1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:44pm
Is the fire suspicious?
Has there been anything suspicious about how the fire might have started at this stage?
— SW
Hi SW,
Thanks for your comment.
FRV Assistant Chief Fire Officer Michael McGuinness said while investigations need to take place, the fire is “not being treated as suspicious”.
He said “it may very well be just a malfunction of a piece of pipework or a valve”.
We will bring you more updates on the investigation as soon as we have them.
1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:41pm
📷Blaze erupts at Viva Energy oil refinery
(Facebook: Marcus Fort)
1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:35pm
Is the Geelong oil refinery still operating?
Yes.
Viva Energy said that most units at its Geelong refinery were still operating and processing fuel though at minimum rates to maintain safety across the site.
“We’ll only start increasing production again once we’re confident that we can do that safely,” CEO Scott Wyatt told reporters.
But what fuel is still being produced?
Jet fuel and diesel, according to Energy Minister Chris Bowen.
2h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:22pm
Australia making ‘very good progress’ on fuel imports, Bowen says
Energy Minister Chris Bowen spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier and said while the fire is “not great timing … what’s important is we come together and manage this”.
“It’s important, as we’ve always said, that people buy as much fuel as they need, but no more, no less,” he said.
“We continue to make very good progress internationally on the imports to Australia, which is the majority of fuel that we consume.
“This is a febrile international environment, fast–changing. Rays of sunshine and then setbacks in terms of the geopolitical environment in the Middle East.”
Bowen said the government had been working closely with Australia’s two refineries, while also working to shore up more supply — pointing to the PM’s efforts in south-east Asia this week.