Setback in Australia’s fuel crisis as fire breaks out at oil refinery | World News

A large fire has broken out at one of Australia’s two operating oil refineries – prompting fears over the country’s petrol supplies amid global disruption caused by the Middle East conflict.

Emergency crews were called to Viva Energy Group’s Geelong ​refinery at about 11pm local time following reports of explosions.

No injuries have been reported, but the blaze continues and authorities said smoke could impact some nearby areas.

The facility, about 40 miles southwest of Melbourne, supplies more than half of Victoria’s fuel and 10% of the country’s.

It produces up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day and employs more than 1,100 people.

Chris Bowen, Australia’s energy minister, said the fire was not yet under control and admitted “there’s still some way to go”.

He told Channel Nine: “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.”

Mr Bowen added that the incident “appears to be an accident at this point”.

Jet fuel and diesel can still be produced at reduced levels as a safety precaution, but Mr Bowen warned petrol production could be affected.

It comes as the country seeks ​to strengthen its own fuel supply to help mitigate the disruption and soaring global oil prices resulting from Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has triggered panic buying at Australia’s petrol pumps.

Last month, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced temporary relief measures, which included halving the fuel excise and suspending the heavy ​road user charge for three months, in an attempt to help households cope with a surge in costs driven by the Iran war.

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‘A huge shock’

Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj said the incident was “unprecedented” – telling ABC: “I’ve spoken to management there this morning and needless to say, this has been a huge shock and has rocked them.

“The fire is still burning and will have to just burn out. Because of the intensity, it was difficult for the fire units to do much other than to watch.”

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Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt insisted the main focus was to extinguish the blaze, which he said had impacted operations at two units.

Mr Wyatt said: “All the other units are still operating and still in production but they are at minimum rates to maintain safety across the site.

“We’ll only start increasing production again once we’re confident ⁠that we can do that safely.”