Overview
- Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery, which caught fire late Wednesday, was contained and extinguished within about 13 hours with no injuries reported.
- Fire officials say an equipment fault likely caused a valve to fail, releasing hydrocarbons that ignited in the petrol area confined to roughly a 30-by-30 metre zone.
- Petrol-making units were taken offline while diesel and jet fuel continued at reduced rates as engineers assess damage and plan safe restart steps.
- Canberra secured about 100 million litres of diesel from Brunei and South Korea and urged motorists to avoid panic buying while supply is rebalanced.
- Hazmat teams found no contamination in air or water, though analysts warn Victoria could face tighter petrol supply and higher prices given Australia’s reliance on imports and only two refineries.