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AFP, GEELONG, Australia
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Columns of fire engulfed a crucial Australian oil refinery after a chain of explosions, authorities said yesterday, as they warned of disruptions to domestic fuel supply.
Flames as high as 60m erupted late on Wednesday after a gas leak ignited at the Viva Energy fuel plant in Victoria state, firefighters said.
The facility is one of only two working oil refineries in Australia.
Damaged infrastructure following a fire is pictured at the Viva Energy Geelong refinery in Corio, Australia, yesterday.
Photo: EPA
The refinery, about an hour’s drive southwest of the state capital, Melbourne, pumps out about 10 percent of Australia’s fuel, Viva Energy said.
Fire Rescue Victoria said that the blaze had been contained, although it could smolder throughout the day.
“The whole sky was lit up with the bright flame,” Geelong resident Wayne Gardiner told reporters.
The refinery is capable of processing up to 120,000 barrels of oil each day, company figures showed.
Analysts said that, together with the Ampol refinery in Brisbane, it produces about 10 to 20 percent of Australia’s total fuel supply.
“This is not a positive development,” Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said as the nation’s fuel supplies are under pressure due to war in the Middle East.
Bowen said he had spoken to Viva Energy and the firm was “very confident they can replace the [lost gasoline] with imports.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is visiting Malaysia, said that Australia had secured an additional supply of about 100 million liters of diesel from Brunei and South Korea.
“This is the first of many expected shipments secured, under the government’s new strategic reserve powers,” Albanese told a news conference.
The fire ripped through a section of the refinery responsible for the production of high-octane gasoline, Bowen said earlier.
By triggering isolation valves, other parts of the plant producing jet fuel and diesel had been spared the worst of the blaze.
Viva Energy later said that most of the units at the Geelong refinery were still operating and processing fuel, although at minimum rates to maintain safety.
Additional reporting by Reuters
