By Lana Lam and Tiffanie Turnbull/BBC-Sydney.
A major fire at one of Australia’s two oil refineries has been extinguished, but the damage has deepened fears over the nation’s petrol supplies amid a global fuel crunch.
Emergency crews rushed to Viva’s Corio oil refinery in Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, just before midnight on Wednesday, after reports of explosions and flames.
The blaze was put out on Thursday after burning for 13 hours. No one was injured, with dozens of workers on site when it broke out evacuated safely.
The refinery – which produces 50% of Victoria’s fuel and 10% of the nation’s – is still partially operational but the government has warned of impacts to petrol production.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the fire was “not great timing” with Australia’s fuel supplies under pressure since war broke out in Iran, creating a global oil crisis.
The price of diesel in Australia has doubled in recent weeks, with fuel stations reporting shortages amid reports of panic buying, while airlines are cutting back some services as jet fuel costs rise.
“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,” Bowen told Nine’s Today show on Thursday, adding he is working closely with the company.
“This is very early days.”
The cause of the fire was due to “equipment failure”, Fire Rescue Victoria said, adding there will be an investigation.
The refinery processes about 120,000 barrels of oil per day, and employs over 1,100 people.
Viva Energy chief executive Scott Wyatt earlier on Thursday said the fire had affected two petrol production units though others were undamaged.
“But naturally petrol will be one of the products that are potentially impacted,” he said.
Jet fuel and diesel were also being made at reduced levels as a safety precaution.
“We’ll only start increasing production again once we’re confident we can do that safely,” Wyatt said.
Australia relies heavily on imported refined fuels – primarily from countries like Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia – which should mean any impact of the fire on domestic fuel availability is limited, experts say.
“This diversified supply chain provides a degree of resilience against short-term domestic disruptions,” University of Sydney Professor Yuan Chen said in a statement.
“[It] doesn’t mean people will run out of fuel tomorrow, but it does narrow the buffer we have to absorb shocks,” Swinburne University of Technology’s Hussein Dia said.
Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj said the fire was “unprecedented”: “I’ve spoken to management there this morning and needless to say, this has been a huge shock and has rocked them,” he told the ABC.
