{"id":610794,"date":"2026-04-16T13:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610794\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T13:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:41:15","slug":"viva-energy-refinery-blaze-impacts-petrol-production-sends-toxic-smoke-over-corio-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610794\/","title":{"rendered":"Viva Energy refinery blaze impacts petrol production, sends toxic smoke over Corio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated April 16, 2026 \u2014 6:53pm,first published April 16, 2026 \u2014 5:55am<\/p>\n

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Key pointsAn out-of-control fire and a series of explosions broke out at Viva Energy\u2019s oil refinery in Corio overnight as a result of what Fire Rescue Victoria said was an equipment failure.The refinery, in Geelong\u2019s 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\u2019s fuel supplies amid the ongoing energy crisis.Workers were forced to flee from \u201ca bloody big fireball\u201d when the fire erupted. No injuries were reported.The fire\u2019s intensity has reduced but is estimated to burn for the remainder of the morning.<\/p>\n

A major fire at one of Australia\u2019s two remaining oil refineries has knocked out at least a fifth of the plant\u2019s production capacity, heightening fears about the nation\u2019s fragile fuel security and raising the prospect of new emergency measures to secure supplies.<\/p>\n

The blaze, sparked by an equipment fault at Viva Energy\u2019s Geelong refinery on the shores of Corio Bay late on Wednesday, damaged two critical petrol-producing units that usually supply about 20 per cent of its output, the company said.<\/p>\n

Since the outbreak of the war in Iran on February 28, the Geelong refinery has been operating at maximum output, pumping out as much as 50 per cent of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel used in Victoria each day, and 10 per cent of the national total.<\/p>\n

However, despite the refinery now being forced to operate at reduced capacity in the weeks ahead, executives on Thursday assured authorities and consumers that they did not anticipate any overall drop-off in the volume of fuel delivered to the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very challenging incident,\u201d Viva chief executive Scott Wyatt said, but he stressed the company had a \u201chigh level of confidence\u201d that it could make up for the shortfall by boosting imports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would rather this not have happened, of course, but we\u2019ve got cargoes arriving all the way through to the end of May. We will start to look for June cargoes soon and will start to roll those forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The incident may raise the likelihood of the federal government having to move to the next stage of its fuel-saving strategy, including directing fuel to priority areas, promoting voluntary measures such as carpooling or working from home, and further releases from strategic reserves, global research firm Rystad Energy said.<\/p>\n

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said it was possible that the fire could prompt state and federal governments to progress to the next stage of the national fuel security plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will need to? The answer to that question \u2026 lies in the assessments that Viva needs to undertake, once it\u2019s safe to do so, on the impact that this fire has had on their production capacity going forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Allan said Victoria would move towards more forceful fuel conservation measures only in lockstep with all states and territories, as agreed in the national plan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

However, federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen rejected suggestions the Geelong fire could lead to more drastic measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a good development when it comes to what we\u2019re managing,\u201d Bowen said. \u201cBut \u2026 because Viva have told us that they\u2019re very confident they can replace the petrol with imports, this \u2013 in and of itself \u2013 won\u2019t lead to a change in the status of the four-point fuel plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Geelong refinery, which can process up to 120,000 barrels of crude oil a day to produce millions of litres of usable fuel, is the last oil refinery left in Victoria, and the second-last in the country, following a wave of closures over the past decade.<\/p>\n

Other local refiners, including ExxonMobil and BP, have shut their plants as they struggled to compete with cheaper imports following the expansions of larger, lower-cost mega-refineries in South-East Asia.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Diesel and jet fuel production units were unaffected in the blaze, Viva Energy said, but the plant was now operating at \u201cminimum rates\u201d as damage assessments continued. Viva is expected to provide a detailed timeline for repairs and a production ramp-up on Monday.<\/p>\n

In addition to supplying fuel from its refinery, Viva also brings in vast volumes of imported fuel via its network of shipping terminals scattered across the coastline, and can draw on its partnership with trading partner Vitol, one of the world\u2019s biggest oil traders, to bolster deliveries. In total, Viva\u2019s operations in Australia supply about 30 per cent of the nation\u2019s fuel.<\/p>\n

Wyatt said it was fortunate that the fire did not damage the refinery\u2019s ability to continue producing diesel and jet fuel, both of which are in much tighter supply than petrol.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a regional perspective, petrol is an easier product to buy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The fire comes as concerns grow over the state of Australia\u2019s fuel security as the conflict in the Middle East continues without a clear timeline for resolution from US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

With more than a month of fuel reserves stashed in storage facilities and dozens of tankers carrying crude oil and refined fuels still booked to arrive in the coming weeks, the fuel industry and federal government are confident that supplies remain steady. However, the longer the conflict in the Middle East drags on, the greater the threat of shortfalls eventually becomes.<\/p>\n

The ongoing disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a major thoroughfare for oil and gas tankers, has cut off significant volumes of global crude oil from the Persian Gulf that are usually delivered to the Asian refineries that account for the bulk of Australia\u2019s imports, experts warn. This raises the threat of a regional supply crunch worsening and hitting Australia if and when they exhaust their inventories.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, energy analysts warned the hit to the Geelong refinery marked a deterioration to Australia\u2019s fuel security, given the nation has already limited capacity to produce its own fuels and relies on imports to fill 80 per cent of its needs in an increasingly volatile global market.<\/p>\n

Fire Rescue Victoria said on Thursday the blaze had begun in some piping at the refinery, where there was a mechanical failure. Some flames were up to 60 metres high.<\/p>\n

About 100 people \u2013 50 firefighters and 50 from Viva\u2019s workforce \u2013 tackled the blaze across 13 hours, extinguishing it just after midday and keeping the damage area to 50 square metres.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey contained this fire really, really quickly to a small part of the refinery,\u201d FRV deputy commissioner Michelle Cowling said. \u201cA fantastic job was done. No firefighters were injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FRVFRV deputy commissioner Michelle Cowling on Thursday afternoon.Paul Jeffers<\/p>\n

Cowling said the blaze would have been worse had it started around one of the plant\u2019s fuel storage tanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could have been a catastrophic fire,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cowling later said firefighters would probably remain at the scene until at least Friday.<\/p>\n

Refinery manager Bill Patterson said: \u201cWe\u2019re still running at pretty decent rates at the moment, given that these units are relatively small in the scheme of things, but they are important units for the longer term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patterson said the part of the refinery affected by fire hadn\u2019t been running in \u201cany sort of abnormal conditions\u201d since the Middle East conflict roiled energy markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe material that\u2019s made from the unit that was impacted is an ingredient into petrol, but it\u2019s not an \u2026 ingredient that we can\u2019t do without,\u201d he said. \u201cSo with the loss of that unit, we will lose a little bit of production capacity on that front, but not a very large amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony Hynds, an organiser with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve been told there were about 30 people on the site, most of them operators.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the first explosion happened, they had to take off and get out of there pretty quickly. I\u2019ve been told there was a small explosion and then two large ones, and then a large fireball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe fire at the Corio refinery overnight.Jessika Louise Wicks\/FRV Geelong<\/p>\n

Australian Workers Union secretary Ronnie Hayden described the scene as like a \u201cwar zone\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome [workers] were pretty close to it, but they managed to run to get away from it,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said it was like a \u2018big bloody fireball coming straight for us\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viva Energy\u2019s plant in Geelong has been underwritten by significant government support to secure Australia\u2019s two remaining refineries.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

One resident near the Viva plant in Corio \u2013 who didn\u2019t want to be identified \u2013 woke up to their house rattling and an ominous red glow on the horizon about 1am.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in bed, and I was wondering why everything was rattling and shaking,\u201d the resident said. \u201cThe whole backyard was lit up red.\u201d<\/p>\n

A warning was issued for dozens of suburbs just after 2am, when a wind change blew smoke from the blaze towards Geelong. It was downgraded shortly before 5.30am. FRV assistant chief fire officer Mick McGuiness said the warning was precautionary, and there were \u201cno contaminants whatsoever\u201d in the smoke.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

On Monday, Bowen said Australia\u2019s fuel reserves stood at 38 days of petrol, 28 days of jet fuel and 31 days of diesel.<\/p>\n

With Reuters<\/p>\n

Read more on the refinery fire:Save<\/p>\n

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\"NickNick Toscano<\/a> is a business reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"PatrickPatrick Hatch<\/a> is transport reporter at The Age and a former business reporter.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"MelissaMelissa Cunningham<\/a> is a health reporter for The Age. She has previously covered crime and justice.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"MikeMike Foley<\/a> is the climate and energy correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated April 16, 2026 \u2014 6:53pm,first published April 16, 2026 \u2014 5:55am Save You have reached your maximum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-610794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610794","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=610794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}