Geelong fire: fuel supply fears over out-of-control blaze at one of Australia’s two remaining oil refineries | Geelong

Explosive fire breaks out at Geelong oil refinery, which supplies half of Victoria’s fuel and 10% of the country’s fuel; Oil production will be affected for some time, and officials have warned that the full extent of the damage is still unknown.

The fire at the Viva Energy plant in Corio, one of two remaining refineries in Australia, broke out just after 11pm on Wednesday and Fire Rescue Victoria was alerted to the incident by multiple calls to triple zero “report explosions and flames”.

“The fire is not yet under control, but is currently contained within the facility/resource area and involves liquid fuels and gases,” FRV said in a statement at 5 a.m. Thursday.

“All emergency response personnel and Viva employees have been cleared and no injuries have been reported.”

A watch and act alert The warning for local people to shelter in place was issued at 1am, but it was later downgraded to an advisory message on the VicEmergency website at around 5.30am. He said the threat had been “reduced” and residents “are now able to resume normal activities.”

“The fire is still being intervened by fire crews, but there is no threat to the public,” the statement said.

The refinery supplies half of Victoria’s fuel and 10% of the country’s fuel. It can process approximately 120,000 barrels of oil each day, according to its website.

Last month, the company was able to continue supplying supplies despite the war in Iran because it was not dependent on fuel from the Middle East.

FRV fire chief Michael McGuinness told ABC Radio Melbourne shortly before 7am. The fire was taken under control in an area approximately 30 meters by 30 meters in the Mogas (motor gas) section of the refinery. He warned it could burn for another three or four hours.

“The fire was caused by a variety of hydrocarbon fuels, mostly liquid petroleum,” McGuinness said.

He said specialist hazmat teams sent out atmospheric monitoring and tested fire water flow and “did not detect any contaminants.”

Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj said the fire was of “unprecedented” size.

Scott Wyatt, Viva Energy’s chief executive, said getting the site to a safe condition, rather than any single production factor, was the immediate priority.

“Only when we are confident that we can do this safely will we resume increasing production,” he said.

Wyatt said the fire was in the facility’s oil field, which “naturally” means petroleum products will be affected.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said production of petrol, diesel and jet fuel at the refinery was continuing at reduced levels as a safety precaution. But he said oil production would also be affected.

“I’m confident gasoline production will continue but it may be impacted for some time,” Bowen told ABC News Breakfast.

He said the cause of the fire would be investigated, but at this stage “it appears to be an accident.”

Bowen said it was “not great timing” given concerns about fuel security, but added that prime minister Anthony Albanese had made “very good progress” in sourcing extra supplies from overseas in a “feverish international environment”.

Gero Farruggio, an analyst at Rystad Energy, said the government should move to stage three fuel restrictions due to the fire at the Corio refinery.

“The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this was [fire] Farruggio told ABC Radio Melbourne: “We cannot prevent stage three at the moment.

“Phase three must come sooner rather than later to secure our supplies, manage demand and ensure we have sufficient reserves to get us through this period.”

Ronnie Hayden, state secretary of the Victorian branch of the Australian Trade Union, told ABC Radio Melbourne that between 50 and 100 workers were on site when the fire broke out and the evacuation was “going as planned”.

“These guys are highly trained in emergency response and emergency evacuation, and I think that’s the main reason why there were no fatalities.”

Hayden said Thursday morning that the fire “should be out within the next few hours” so workers and officials can better understand the impact.

“We won’t know until we actually get in there. We’re just speculating. I’d be surprised if we weren’t closed for a few days, but it could take a lot longer. It could be done quicker. We just need to get in and take a look.”

He added that the Viva refinery is a “70-year-old facility” that always requires regular maintenance. ““Our health and safety representatives are there and they identify the problems and most of them are resolved fairly quickly.”