Fire Rescue Victoria has confirmed the blaze at the Viva Oil Refinery in Geelong, has been extinguished more than 15 hours after it was first reported last night.
Firefighters responded to an incident at the MOGAS Unit at the Viva Oil Refinery in Corio at approximately 11.15pm yesterday evening following multiple calls to Triple Zero reporting explosions and flames.
In a brief media statement earlier today, Viva Energy Group said it was a “significant” fire at the Gasoline complex but Fire Rescue Victoria was always in control.
“All personnel are accounted for and no one was injured. The health and safety of our people, contractors and the surrounding community remains our highest priority,” the statement said.
“Viva Energy is working closely with emergency services and relevant authorities. The extent of damage to the refinery is not yet known and will be investigated once it is safe to do so.
“The facility remains running, on reduced production rates. We anticipate that the impacts will be predominantly to the production of gasoline and aviation gasoline, however, the damage needs to be assessed and understood.”
Viva said there is no immediate impact to fuel supply, and the company expects to replace any lost production through its fuel import program.
Victorian Transport Association CEO Peter Anderson said the fire is a stark reminder of just how fragile Australia’s fuel supply chain has become.
“With only two major refineries operating nationally, incidents like this expose the risk to the transport industry and the broader economy when fuel supplies are disrupted — risks that are being further compounded by global instability and fuel shortages linked to ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” Anderson said.
“This event underscores the urgent need for Australia to expand and strengthen its domestic oil refining capacity, so businesses can have greater confidence that essential fuel supplies won’t be compromised by unforeseen incidents.”