A fire at Viva Energy’s Corio facility in Geelong burned for 13 hours before being extinguished.
The blaze started early Tuesday and was contained to the Mogas section of the refinery, which produces motor gasoline.
As of midday, the fire had been extinguished, but the full impact on petrol supplies remains unknown.
The Geelong refinery processes 120,000 barrels of oil per day and supplies about half of Victoria’s fuel needs.
Details remain unconfirmed regarding the exact cause of the fire. Investigations are ongoing.
Meanwhile, within hours of the incident, Ukrainian drones struck the Tuapse Oil Refinery in Russia during an overnight attack.
This refinery is one of the largest in Russia, with a processing capacity of around 12 million tons per year.
The Tuapse fire reportedly intensified and spread to neighboring reservoirs. Four casualties have been reported, including two children.
Chris Bowen remarked, “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.”
Experts highlight that coupled with the cancellation of six oil tankers scheduled for April delivery to Australia, this fire represents a critical stress test for Australia’s energy resilience.
Yet, production of jet fuel and diesel continues at Geelong, indicating that only petrol production has been affected by the blaze.
This situation underscores structural issues within Australia’s refining capacity as it increasingly relies on imported fuels.
