Viva Energy says Geelong refinery fire won’t hit supply as output trimmed to 80%
Viva Energy has moved to reassure motorists after a fire at its Geelong refinery, saying the incident will not affect fuel supply to local customers and that any costs will be absorbed by the company rather than passed on. Production at the Corio site has been reduced to about 80% while safety checks continue.
The blaze broke out on Wednesday night in an alkylation unit at the refinery and burned for 13 hours before being extinguished. The fire has been attributed to a gas leak stemming from faulty equipment, though the exact cause remains under investigation.
Viva Energy said it could be weeks before the refinery — one of only two in Australia — returns to full capacity, and that the site must be made safe before the extent of the damage can be assessed. “I think there will be no impact to what we supply into the Victorian market as a result of this incident, I’m very confident of that,” chief executive Scott Wyatt said on Friday.
“Whatever costs this incident has caused the refinery will be absorbed by refinery operations, we will not be passing that on to the community.” The NRMA backed that assessment, saying the fire was unlikely to affect what Australians pay at the pump. “Prices are not affected by what happens in Australia, global factors determine what we pay at the bowser,” spokesperson Peter Khoury said, adding that prices had fallen globally overnight.
He said the NRMA projected unleaded prices could drop below two dollars a litre this weekend. Khoury said the federal government had assured any supply issues would be covered by imports. On Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spruiked deals struck with South Korean and Bruneian authorities, allowing Viva Energy to purchase 570,000 barrels of diesel — about 100 million litres.
Experts noted Australia uses almost 100 million litres of diesel each day, meaning the shipment amounts to a short-term boost. Hussein Dia, a professor of Transport Technology and Sustainability at Swinburne University, said Australia’s reliance on diesel reflects the need to move goods across long distances by heavy truck.
The refinery has recorded more than a dozen incidents requiring emergency service call-outs over the past decade, though Viva Energy says the facility is regularly maintained. The company and investigators continue to examine the latest incident as operations run at reduced rates in the interim.