A major fire has damaged an oil refinery in Geelong that is one of only two remaining in Australia and provides 10% of the nation’s fuel, and supply could now be disrupted for months.
The blaze broke out at the Viva Energy facility in Corio at about 11pm on Wednesday night and fire crews fought the flames across Thursday morning while production was cut to a minimum.
No injuries were reported, and Vic Emergency said there was “currently no threat to the community” but urged local residents “stay informed and monitor conditions”.
Fire Rescue Victoria said the fire, which erupted in the part of the facility were motor gasoline is produced, had been extinguished by 12pm on Thursday, and said equipment failure was to blame.
#Australia: A major fire has erupted at the Geelong refinery in Victoria, Australia, prompting emergency crews to respond to reports of explosions and intense flames. Fire Rescue Victoria confirmed that the situation remains uncontrolled, though all refinery personnel are safe… pic.twitter.com/GN6PtZRS1L
— Wolverine Update (@W0lverineupdate) April 15, 2026
“It was an equipment failure in the refinery … Viva is looking into that, so there’ll be a thorough investigation into the failure of how this fire started,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Ross Stidolph, the former engineering and maintenance manager at BP’s Kwinana refinery near Perth, told ABC News fires at major refining facilities were “very rare” in Australian or other developing countries.
“You spend a lot of time and effort making sure that they don’t occur,” Mr Stidolph said.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed the fire would affect production at the refinery, which produces jet fuel, diesel and petrol, supplies 50% of Victoria’s fuel, and can process about 120,000 barrels of oil a day.
“It will impact on production, and at this point, petrol rather than diesel and jet fuel, but we’re going to continue to really work closely with Viva and really monitor and work together on any impacts,” Mr Bowen told Sunrise.
“There’ll be an investigation now, but at this point, no suspicious circumstances … all appears to be accidental.”
Australia’s only other refinery is the Ampol Lytton facility in Brisbane, which processes about 109,000 barrels a day and supplies another 10% of Australia’s fuel.
Premier Jacinta Allan said it was too early to tell if the fire would directly impact Victoria drivers, and warned against “unfounded speculation”.
“The advice from the national fuel coordinator and the federal government continues to be that supply is sufficient to meet out current demand,” she said.
“The supply changes, should they arise … won’t stop at the Murray River or the South Australian border.”
Header image: Left, the blaze on Wednesday night (Facebook). Right, the aftermath of the fire (9News).
The post Major fire tears through one of Australia’s two oil refineries – equipment failure blamed first appeared on The Noticer.
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