A FIRE at the Corio oil refinery near Geelong highlights Australia’s fuel vulnerability, industry figures say.
The refinery, run by Viva Energy Group, is one of just two remaining in Australia and supplies about half of Victoria’s fuel and 10% of the entire nation.
The fire broke out just after 11pm on Wednesday and burnt for much of Thursday morning.
Viva said the fire occurred within the gasoline complex with Fire Rescue Victoria called to control the incident.
Viva said all personnel were accounted for and no one was injured.
“Viva Energy is working closely with emergency services and relevant authorities,” the company said.
“The extent of damage to the refinery is not yet known and will be investigated once it is safe to do so.”
Viva said the facility remained 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.
“There is no immediate impact to fuel supply, and the company expects to replace any lost production through its fuel import program,” the Viva statement read.
MUA national secretary Jake Field said as well as being a terrible industrial accident, the situation highlighted the ageing nature of Australia’s refinery infrastructure and the fragility of domestic fuel production capacity.
“We had eight refineries, that’s fallen to two, and one of those is now on fire. With the nation’s fuel supply running on empty, this crisis demands a swift and far-reaching response from government and industry,” he said.
Mr Field said almost all of Australia’s high-quality local crude oil was exported to be refined overseas because local refineries were configured for imported sour grade crude oil.
“That puts us in an upside-down, back-to-front situation that must be fixed with government intervention if the free market can’t or won’t provide a viable refining sector,” he said.
Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson said the fire was “a stark reminder of just how fragile Australia’s fuel supply chain has become”.
“This event underscores the urgent need for Australia to expand and strengthen its domestic oil refining capacity, so businesses can have greater confidence,” Mr Anderson said.
Australian Logistics Council chief executive Hermione Parsons said the timing of the fire was particularly concerning.
“To have this fire happening to one of these critical assets at this time is the best example we could have that Australia needs to change the way it sees itself and its future,” Dr Parsons said.
“We need to build sovereign capability to ensure supply chain productivity, sustainability and resilience.”
Dr Parsons said the fire risked causing greater demand for imported fuel at a time when global diesel prices were at their highest due to wars and the broader geopolitical situation.