A major fire at the Geelong oil refinery near Melbourne in Australia on Wednesday 15 April was extinguished on Thursday lunchtime officials said. It's one of Australia's largest and critical plant's. Authorities said it is still producing jet fuel and diesel but at reduced levels.
State fire authorities said the blaze broke out at a 120,000 barrels-per day refinery run by Viva Energy. The cause of the blaze and the extent of the damage was not clear at the time of writing but it has been reported there are no injuries.
"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," Energy Minister Chris Bowen told Channel Nine. The plant is still producing jet fuel and diesel but at reduced levels for safety reasons, Bowen said.
Viva Energy's refinery supplies more than half of the fuel in Australia's second most populous state, Victoria, and a tenth of the country's total demand.
The company said it expects output of petrol and aviation gasoline will be affected, but it will meet fuel demand through imports.
Scott Wyatt, Viva Energy CEO, told reporters the primary focus was to completely put out the fire that hit operations at two units at the refinery before assessing damage and safely restoring production.
"All the other units are still operating and still in production but they are at minimum rates to maintain safety across the site," he said.
"We'll only start increasing production again once we're confident that we can do that safely."
Viva's shares were on a trading halt pending an update on the impact of the fire.
“I would expect we'd see a price hike depending on the scale of the damage, and secondly, it reinforces the challenges we have in terms of sovereign and resilient capabilities here,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst John Coyne said.
The incident comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to discuss securing fuel supplies with his Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, following similar trips to Singapore and Brunei.
"We'll continue to work with the company to do what we can to make sure that anything that is offline is brought online as soon as possible," Albanese said at a media conference in Malaysia's administrative capital, Putrajaya.
Malaysia and Brunei, which produce crude oil and refined products, could increase production but only to a certain degree, Coyne said.
In March the government committed to underwriting a portion of fuel purchases by refiners and suppliers.
Read more:
Russia is holding a significantly scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May 2026, reflecting heightened security concerns and the ongoing w...
Health authorities are monitoring a widening hantavirus alert after new suspected cases emerged in Spain and on a remote South Atlantic island, day...
Centre-right leader Péter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister on Saturday, propelled i...
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has warned that France risks undermin...
China’s leading chipmakers are funnelling unprecedented sums into research and...
Australian police have charged two women linked to the Islamic State group with slavery offences after they returned from Syria, where they had been detained in a refugee camp for more than seven years.
The Australian government will spend billions to boost national fuel stockpiles and create a permanent, state-owned strategic reserve, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced.
A court in Sydney is set to review a non-publication order in the case of former Australian SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, who is accused of war crime murder in Afghanistan.
Australia and Japan agreed on Monday to deepen cooperation on energy and critical minerals, as Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met her Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese during a three-day visit.
The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz, though both sides signalled they did not want escalation. The clashes come as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a proposed deal to end the war while leaving key disputes, such as Iran’s nuclear programme, unresolved for now.
Efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war appeared to stall as the two sides exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz. A reported CIA assessment suggested Tehran could withstand a U.S. naval blockade for months despite mounting sanctions and renewed Gulf attacks.
Singapore has isolated and is testing two of its residents who travelled aboard a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said on Thursday.
Russia is holding a significantly scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May 2026, reflecting heightened security concerns and the ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
Health authorities are monitoring a widening hantavirus alert after new suspected cases emerged in Spain and on a remote South Atlantic island, days after an outbreak on a cruise ship left three people dead and several others infected.
China’s leading chipmakers are funnelling unprecedented sums into research and development as Beijing accelerates efforts to reduce reliance on foreign technology amid intensifying U.S. export restrictions.
Centre-right leader Péter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister on Saturday, propelled into office on promises of change after years of economic stagnation and strained ties with key allies under his predecessor Viktor Orbán.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has warned that France risks undermining the self-determination rights of the Kanak Indigenous People in New Caledonia amid proposed political and constitutional reforms.
Somalia is facing a severe malnutrition crisis and urgently needs additional humanitarian funding to prevent conditions deteriorating further, the World Food Programme has warned.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to carry on as leader on Friday (8 May) after his ruling Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections. Labour lost hundreds of councillors across the country, as some figures in the party said he should stand down.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment