By Jo Nova
Well, that can’t be good
Details are sketchy, but the Viva refinery in Corio, Geelong Victoria is reportedly on fire in a big way. This is (or was) one of Australia’s last two remaining oil refineries supplying 10% of domestic needs. Reports on X and Reddit claim the fire started with an explosion at about 11pm in Victoria, with “flames 100ft high”. The glow is visible from Melbourne. Others report the fire started in the “gas separator unit”. with some saying they heard, as many as 7 or 8 explosions. The Victorian Fire Dept has issued a watch and act and stay indoors for people in Geelong. As many as 16 fire units are attending a “Building Fire” on Refinery Rd, Corio which (at this time) is not yet under control.
What are the odds? Speculation is rife: “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence” says every second person.
We’re praying the staff are somehow OK, and someone has sent the SAS to guard our other refinery.
Corio Refinery Fire Reddit
But we’ll be fine, right? As our energy Minister Chris Blackout Bowen says: “No war can impede the flow of sun to Australia” (only nighttime and clouds can do that…).
We’re living in a bubble downunder, and it may have just popped. The ships that have been bringing our oil are mostly ones that were already on the water before the war in Iran broke out. No one is 100% sure what happens next. We are cruising barely a few weeks from potential disaster. This is not a loss of 10% in normal times, it’s potentially a loss of 10% on top of a crisis. It may mean some of the ships we are counting on will not be able to unload and get processed anywhere in Australia. The other refinery, Lytton in Queensland, may be booked at full capacity and it’s not clear whether there will still be storage available in Geelong.
Footage of the Corio oil refinery on fire in Geelong, Victoria (Australia).
Substantial flames billowing into the sky.
Corio supplies ~120k barrels per day of fuel and refined products, equivalent to over 10% of Australia’s daily consumption.
Source: Geelong Community FB pic.twitter.com/Dr8wfOCMBJ
— Tarric Brooker aka Avid Commentator 🇦🇺 (@AvidCommentator) April 15, 2026
Australians were frustrated that three overseas newspapers appear to have reported on this before the local press. The Mirror. The Express. The Daily Mail. The ABC have now sent a reporter.
The billion dollar question is whether the refinery was pushing the safety bounds at a facility presumably being run at full speed under immense pressure, or whether this is no accident. With Australia being a star player in the “Miss Unprepared Nation” stakes, there are few better candidates where one little domestic terror incident could bring us to our knees, begging for oil, and an end to the war.
Construction is slowing, petrol stations are running out of fuel and businesses are already talking of shutting down. Flights are being cancelled. Things are so dire, it’s possible we might actually run out of diesel and jet fuel in… three or four weeks. To solve this the Labor government spent $20 million running adverts telling Australians how to improve the fuel economy of their family car. On social media Victorians have been heard saying, Dang, now they’ll have to take the roof rack and the tow ball off the car…
How’s that ban on fracking looking now? Victoria not only banned it permanently but enshrined it in the constitution just in case the voters changed their minds. Who exactly are the politicians serving…?
It’s 4:30am in Victoria and the extent of the damage to the plant is unknown. I’ll have to leave it to commenters and moderators to update the situation below.
Let’s hope the damage is not as bad as it seems.
—
update: by Raquel (9am local).
All refinery staff and emergency workers have been accounted for and there are no reports of injury.
At 5.27am (local time), the Country Fire Authority (CFA) said the threat had reduced and people in surrounding suburbs could resume normal activities. Earlier advice had been for residents to remain indoors with windows closed, and to turn off heating / cooling that would draw air in.
Viva Energy is one of two oil refineries in the country and supplies half of Victoria’s fuel and 10 per cent of the nation’s.
Viva refinery advise there has been no immediate impact on fuel supplies.
Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says “It will impact on production, and at this point, petrol rather than diesel and jet fuel”. A state govt spokesperson says it is not impacting production or storage.
—
update: by Raquel (11:30am local)
Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt says two production units have been damaged, used for petrol production and some other products. While reducing production broadly at the refinery while the situation is handled, Wyatt is confident overall supplies will not be affected and shortfalls will be covered by imports.
We have a high degree of confidence to the extent that we have any production shortfalls, we have a very strong import program right through the rest of the month and through May that we can then substitute loss production at Geelong and maintain supply to the market
UPDATE: Refinery operations face months of disruptions
Luckily Viva Energy can arrange some extra ships of petrol to cover the losses:
A fire at Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery is expected to disrupt operations for anywhere between three weeks and three months, threatening a hit to earnings and tightening petrol supply at a critical time for the domestic market, Macquarie has estimated.
While Viva Energy has indicated it can offset lost petrol output through imports…
If finding extra ships of petrol so easy, why didn’t they do it a few weeks ago? It would have been handy.
UPDATE: Labor to stop war in Iran
What is our Defence Minister smoking?
Defence Minister Richard Marles has vowed the government would do “all within our power” to turn a temporary two-week ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran into a permanent peace.
Apparently we will use our fuel deficiency, our diesel subs, our non-existent merchant navy and achieve exactly what? What leverage do we have? We’ll stop sending iron ore and gold to China unless Iran plays nice?