{"id":609660,"date":"2026-04-16T01:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T01:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/609660\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T01:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T01:29:20","slug":"geelong-oil-refinery-fire-live-updates-equipment-failure-to-blame-for-refinery-fire-firefighters-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/609660\/","title":{"rendered":"Geelong oil refinery fire live updates: Equipment failure to blame for refinery fire, firefighters say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just nowThu 16 Apr 2026 at 1:28am<\/p>\n

ASX suspends trading of Viva Energy shares<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The ASX said trading will be halted until Viva releases a statement to the market or normal trading resumes on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"A(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)\"Viva's(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

14m agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 1:15am<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf9 Firefighters battle blaze at Geelong refinery\"Hanan<\/p>\n

38m agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:51am<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf7Visual impact of the fire reducing in Geelong\"Hanan<\/p>\n

ABC News reporter Jonathon Kendall took some photos just earlier from Eastern Beach in Geelong looking towards the oil refinery.<\/p>\n

\"A(ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)\"A(ABC News: Jonathon Kendall)<\/p>\n

44m agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:44am<\/p>\n

Fire impacting petrol production, Vic energy minister says\"Kate<\/p>\n

Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, told ABC Radio Melbourne\u00a0the fire occurred in an area of the refinery that affects\u00a0gasoline and petrol production.<\/p>\n

“It has not impacted the diesel or jet fuel directly,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The fire is now contained. So that’s a positive.”<\/p>\n

She acknowledged there had been a ramping down\u00a0of other production units for safety reasons, but she had been assured by operator Viva Energy that there had\u00a0been no immediate impact on fuel supply.<\/p>\n

When pressed by host Waleed Aly,\u00a0she was unable to answer what the medium\u00a0or long-term impacts\u00a0might be.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:27am<\/p>\n

What fuel is impacted from the fire?\"Hanan<\/p>\n

Are we able to confirm the fuels impacted? I am seeing mixed reporting about diesel, petrol and jet fuel. What is impacted?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Henry<\/p>\n

Hi Henry,<\/p>\n

Thanks for joining us on the blog.<\/p>\n

From the information we have so far, the refinery is continuing to produce diesel and jet fuel at “reduced levels”.<\/p>\n

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said petrol production is likely to be most impacted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m sure that petrol production will continue, but it may be impacted for some time,” he said.<\/p>\n

1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:19am<\/p>\n

ICYMI: Fire chief officer provides update\"Hanan<\/p>\n

Earlier this morning, RV Assistant Chief Fire Officer\u00a0Michael McGuinness provided an update on the Viva Energy oil refinery fire.<\/p>\n

You can watch his comments below:<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:14am<\/p>\n

Authorities assessing impact on water quality<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“Air quality is clearing after heavy smoke blanketed the area in the early hours of this morning,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“Impacts on water quality is also being assessed.”<\/p>\n

\"Smoke(ABC News: Tara Whitchurch)<\/p>\n

An alert on the EPA’s website says that “due to an industrial fire in North Geelong, firewater has entered Corio Bay”.<\/p>\n

It urges\u00a0residents at Corio Bay in North Geelong to “avoid contact with water (including pets) until further notice”.<\/p>\n

1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:09am<\/p>\n

Energy analyst says Viva Energy fire comes as fuel ‘crunch point’ about to hit<\/p>\n

The Viva Energy refinery is responsible for\u00a0up to 10 per cent of Australia’s fuel supply.<\/p>\n

Saul Kavonic,\u00a0energy analyst at\u00a0MST Financial, says\u00a0the fire comes “just as the crunch point of the global fuel shortage is about to hit us”.<\/p>\n

“The government will now have to\u00a0\u00a0scramble 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.<\/p>\n

“This increases the risk of fuel shortages and the need for stronger demand management measures to be taken earlier.”<\/p>\n

1h agoThu 16 Apr 2026 at 12:05am<\/p>\n

Firefighter union warns Geelong refinery blaze ‘not unexpected’\"Kate<\/p>\n

Firefighter union secretary Peter Marshall said the fire at the ageing oil refinery was not unexpected\u00a0and “could have gone horribly wrong”.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“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…\u00a0 as I said, potentially it could have been catastrophic.”<\/p>\n

\"UnitedUnited Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall. (ABC News: Leanne Wong)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:57pm<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf9Explosions before fire tore through oil refinery\"Hanan<\/p>\n

1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:50pm<\/p>\n

Witness describes ‘intense’ scene at Corio overnight<\/p>\n

Ben Young was staying at a friend’s place nearby the refinery when the blaze broke out last night.<\/p>\n

A friend had told him he heard explosions and they could see the fire from the Corio home.<\/p>\n

“It was like a shockwave, he could feel it,” Mr Young said.<\/p>\n

\"\"(Supplied: Ben Young)<\/p>\n

He went down to the site, where he said there was a sound like an intense vacuum.<\/p>\n

“It was a pretty loud, blowing kind of sucking noise.<\/p>\n

“That was about it \u2014 you couldn’t hear the firies \u2014 it’s pretty quiet on the outskirts of Corio and Geelong.”<\/p>\n

“[There were] very limited police on the perimeter, but it had just happened.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:44pm<\/p>\n

Is the fire suspicious?\"Hanan<\/p>\n

Has there been anything suspicious about how the fire might have started at this stage?<\/p>\n

\u2014 SW<\/p>\n

Hi SW,<\/p>\n

Thanks for your comment.<\/p>\n

FRV Assistant Chief Fire Officer Michael McGuinness said while investigations need to take place, the fire is “not being treated as suspicious”.<\/p>\n

He said “it may very well be just a malfunction of a piece of pipework or a valve”.<\/p>\n

We will bring you more updates on the investigation as soon as we have them.<\/p>\n

1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:41pm<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf7Blaze erupts at Viva Energy oil refinery\"Hanan\"A(Facebook: Marcus Fort)<\/p>\n

1h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:35pm<\/p>\n

Is the Geelong oil refinery still operating?\"Hanan<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“We’ll only start increasing production again once we’re confident that we can do that safely,” CEO Scott Wyatt told reporters.<\/p>\n

But what fuel is still being produced?<\/p>\n

Jet fuel and diesel, according to Energy Minister Chris Bowen.<\/p>\n

2h agoWed 15 Apr 2026 at 11:22pm<\/p>\n

Australia making ‘very good progress’ on fuel imports, Bowen says<\/p>\n

Energy Minister Chris Bowen\u00a0spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier and said while the fire is “not great timing \u2026 what’s important is we come together and manage this”.<\/p>\n

“It’s important, as we’ve always said, that people buy as much fuel as they need, but no more, no less,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We continue to make very good progress internationally on the imports to Australia, which is the majority of fuel that we consume.<\/p>\n

“This is a febrile international environment, fast\u2013changing. Rays of sunshine and then setbacks in terms of the geopolitical environment in the Middle East.”<\/p>\n

Bowen said the government had been working closely with Australia’s two refineries, while also working to shore up more supply \u2014 pointing to the PM’s efforts in south-east Asia this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just nowThu 16 Apr 2026 at 1:28am ASX suspends trading of Viva Energy shares A statement from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[296051,296374,296376,296377,43,44,182539,296375,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-609660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-corio","9":"tag-geelong-oil-refinery","10":"tag-geelong-oil-refinery-fire","11":"tag-geelong-oil-refinery-fire-live-blog","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-oil-refinery","15":"tag-oil-refinery-fire","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}