Fire at Australian refinery fuels petrol shortage fears amid global oil crisis

Fire at Australian refinery fuels petrol shortage fears amid global oil crisisThe Geelong plant is one of only two operating oil refineries in Australia and supplies 10 per cent of the country’s total demand2-MIN READ2-MIN0ListenPublished: 9:57am, 16 Apr 2026Updated: 4:54pm, 16 Apr 2026A fire at one of Australia’s two operating oil refineries could hit petrol production more than diesel and aviation fuel, authorities said on Thursday, as emergency crews worked overnight to extinguish the blaze.Firefighters were battling flames as tall as 60 metres (200 feet) at Viva ‌Energy’s motor petrol production unit at its Geelong Refinery in Victoria state, which processes crude into high-octane petrol. No injuries have been reported from the fire, which emergency crews were alerted to at about 11pm on Wednesday.“The fire is not yet under control. So, there’s still some way to go. 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,” Australia’s Energy Minister Chris Bowen told ⁠Channel Nine.The incident comes as Australia seeks to shore up fuel security amid global supply disruptions due to the Middle East conflict that have led to local panic buying of petrol and diesel. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is visiting Malaysia on Thursday to discuss securing supplies from regional allies. Fire at Australian refinery fuels petrol shortage fearsFire at Australian refinery fuels petrol shortage fears“At this point, production of jet fuel and diesel is continuing ‌at the refinery at reduced levels for safety reasons, as a precaution … the impact is mainly on ⁠petrol production, but obviously, this is ⁠very early days,” Bowen said.