Viva Energy's Geelong refinery is running at 80% capacity for diesel and jet fuel, and 60% for petrol after a fire broke out at one of its gasoline production units on Wednesday, according to a press conference held by the government on the incident.

The company said in a news release on Thursday that the impact of the fire would predominantly be on the production of gasoline and aviation gasoline, although the damage needs to be assessed.

There is no immediate impact to fuel supply, and Viva Energy expects to replace any lost production through its fuel import program, it added.

The fire broke out at the refiner's mogas alkylation plant, impacting gasoline production, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Market sources said that the 48,000 b/d residual fluid catalytic cracking unit was also shut down as a result of the fire.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said at the press conference that while the refinery fire was a "setback" occurring at a time of heightened global tension, Australia's fuel security remains robustly managed.

Bowen noted that the fire authorities' findings point to "equipment failure" rather than systemic or external interference, which should provide some stability to risk assessments.

He reiterated that any shortfalls in domestic petrol production would be methodically covered by a "substantial" import program over the coming months.

Australia imports more than 90% of its domestic fuel demands from regional countries and its two refineries, the 120,000 b/d Geelong refinery and the 109,000 b/d Lytton refinery, supply around 20% of the country's domestic fuel needs.

On Thursday, Viva Energy said it procured two shipments totaling around 100 million liters of diesel from Brunei and South Korea by partnering with Export Finance Australia under the country's new Strategic Reserve framework. The agency will also partner other Australian oil firms, such as BP, Ampol, Park Fuels and IOR, for procurements.

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--Reporting by John Koh, jkoh@opisnet.com; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2026 05:22 ET (09:22 GMT)

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