A massive fire erupted at one of Australia's two remaining oil refineries late Wednesday night, raising significant concerns about the nation's already strained petrol supplies. Emergency services responded to reports of explosions and towering flames at the Viva Energy refinery in Corio, Geelong, just southwest of Melbourne.
"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," said Energy Minister Chris Bowen, describing the timing as "not great" given the global fuel crisis.
The Corio facility is a critical piece of national infrastructure, responsible for producing half of Victoria's fuel and approximately 10% of Australia's total supply. While no injuries have been reported, the blaze continues to burn, prompting air quality warnings for the surrounding area.
Fire Rescue Victoria attributed the incident to an "equipment failure" and confirmed an investigation will follow. The refinery, which processes around 120,000 barrels of oil daily and employs over 1,100 people, remains partially operational. Production of jet fuel and diesel continues at reduced levels as a safety measure, but petrol output is expected to be significantly impacted.
Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt stated that safety, not production, is the immediate priority. "We'll only start increasing production again once we're confident we can do that safely," he explained, noting that while some petrol-making units were damaged, others remain functional.
The fire compounds existing pressures on Australia's fuel market. Diesel prices have doubled in recent weeks, some service stations are reporting shortages, and airlines are scaling back services due to soaring jet fuel costs—a situation exacerbated by the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj called the incident "unprecedented," predicting the fire could burn for several more hours. "The fire is still burning and will have to just burn out," he said, describing the intensity as too great for fire crews to fully combat.
Union officials confirmed that between 50 to 100 workers were safely evacuated from the site when the fire broke out. The incident places further strain on a national fuel system already navigating a turbulent global landscape, with officials and company executives now racing to assess the full scope of the disruption.