Geelong fire: Blaze at Australian oil refinery to impact petrol supplies

The Viva refinery produces about 120,000 barrels of oil per day

A major fire has broken out at one of Australia‘s two oil refineries, deepening fears over the nation’s petrol supplies amid a global fuel crunch.

Emergency crews rushed to Viva‘s Corio oil refinery in Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, just before midnight on Wednesday, after reports of explosions and flames. The refinery produces 50% of Victoria’s fuel and 10% of the nations.

No one has been injured, but the blaze continues to burn and has prompted warnings about air quality in the area.

The refinery is still partially operational - jet fuel and diesel will continue to be made at reduced levels as a safety precaution - but the government has warned of impacts to petrol production.

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 Nine’s Today show on Thursday, adding he is working closely with the company.

Obviously, this is very early days.

An investigation will be launched into the cause of the fire, Bowen added, but at this stage, it appears to be an accident.

The refinery produces about 120,000 barrels of oil per day, and employs over 110,00 people.

Viva Energy chief executive Scott Wyatt said production is not our primary priority today... its getting the site safe.

He said the fire had affected two petrol production units but others were undamaged.

There are units that make petrol that havent been impacted by this incident as well, but naturally petrol will be one of the products that are potentially impacted, he said.

We‘ll only start increasing production again once we’re confident we can do that safely.

Ronnie Hayden, state secretary of the Victorian branch of the Australian Workers Union, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that between 50 to 100 workers were at the refinery when the fire broke out but were evacuated safely.

Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj said the fire was unprecedented and is likely to continue to burn for several hours.

Ive spoken to management there this morning and needless to say, this has been a huge shock and has rocked them, he told the ABC.

The fire is still burning and will have to just burn out. Because of the intensity, it was difficult for the fire units to do much other than to watch.