Fire breaks out at crucial Australian refinery, raising fuel supply fears

Gas leak ignites Viva substance plant, which produces astir 10 percent of Australia’s fuel, successful Geelong, Victoria.

Columns of occurrence person engulfed the largest of Australia’s 2 lipid refineries, conscionable arsenic the ⁠nation faces unit to enactment up substance information with the Iran warfare disrupting planetary supply.

Victoria State occurrence authorities said the blaze, which broke retired astatine a 120,000 barrels-per-day refinery successful Geelong tally by Viva Energy connected Wednesday night, had been brought “under control” astatine noon (02:00 GMT) connected Thursday.

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Flames arsenic precocious arsenic 60m (200 feet) erupted aft a state leak ignited astatine the plant, firefighters said. It is 1 of lone 2 moving lipid refineries successful Australia.

The refinery, astir an hour’s thrust southwest of the authorities capital, Melbourne, pumps retired astir 10 percent of Australia’s fuel, according to vigor institution Viva.

The occurrence came astatine a atrocious clip for Australia ⁠as it depends connected imports for 80 percent of its substance needs and has been racing to regenerate proviso disrupted by the Middle East conflict, which has driven up vigor prices worldwide.

Kevin Morrison, an vigor concern analyst, said the wider Asia Pacific portion has been facing a substance information contented and Australia does not person large stockpiles.

“This cardinal country of proviso being knocked retired for a non-known play of clip is rather an issue,” Morrison said, speaking to Al Jazeera from Sydney.

He stressed that the works is “a precise old” 1 that started moving successful the 1950s and, due to the fact that of the ongoing planetary lipid crisis, it was moving astatine maximum capacity.

Additional supplies

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, presently visiting Malaysia, said connected Thursday that Australia had secured an further proviso of immoderate 100 cardinal litres of diesel from Brunei and South Korea.

“This is the archetypal of galore expected shipments secured nether the government’s caller strategical reserve powers,” helium told a quality conference.

Wednesday’s occurrence ripped done a conception of the refinery liable for producing high-octane petrol, Energy Minister Chris Bowen earlier said.

By triggering isolation valves, different parts of the works producing pitchy substance and diesel had been spared the worst of the blaze.

Canberra urged Australians to disregard the impulse to unreserved retired and panic-buy much fuel.

“It’s important that radical bargain arsenic overmuch substance arsenic they need, but nary more, nary less,” Bowen said.

‘Very challenging incident’

Incident controller Mark McGuinness said a “significant leak” of highly flammable gases and liquid hydrocarbons had triggered the inferno.

“It was rather ferocious. It went from a tiny occurrence done respective explosions to a large, aggravated fire,” helium told reporters.

Images taken connected Thursday greeting showed heavy clouds of fume billowing implicit the concern complex.

Viva Energy brag Scott Wyatt said it was a “very challenging incident”.

“Production is not our superior precedence today,” helium told reporters. “Today, it is getting the tract safe.”

Australia holds astir 38 days’ petrol successful reserve, according to authorities figures, acold beneath the 90-day minimum dictated by the International Energy Agency.

While the authorities has truthful acold resisted moves to ration fuel, it has urged drivers to conserve petrol wherever they tin and to favour nationalist transport if possible.

Like astir nations successful Asia and the South Pacific, Australia is heavy reliant connected lipid shipped done the Strait of Hormuz, which astatine 1 constituent carried one-fifth of the world’s lipid and gas.

Shipping postulation done the captious waterway has fundamentally ceased since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran connected February 28.