‘Confident’: Viva Energy CEO says petrol prices unaffected after horror refinery fire

The chief executive of Viva Energy has assured Australians petrol prices would not increase as a result of a fire ripping through one of the country’s only two refineries.

The Viva Energy Refinery in Corio, a suburb north of Geelong, went up in flames after multiple explosions were reported shortly after 11pm Wednesday.

CEO Scott Wyatt told reporters on Friday morning that a “lot of units are unaffected” and remain in production, and would continue to produce 80 per cent of fuel supply.

He said the fire would not directly impact Victorians in search of petrol.

“I think there’ll be no impact to the fuel supply for the Victorian market,” he said.

“Any shortfalls in production, we’re fairly confident we can cover that with our import schedule.”

He said while the impact of the fire would increase costs for the refinery, Mr Wyatt said it would not directly impact customers’ wallets.

“I do not think the costs will go up. The costs will go up for us,” he said, with his hand on his chest.

“Whatever cost this has caused the refinery will be absorbed,” he said, assuring that the costs would not be passed down to customers.

Earlier on Friday,Richard Marles quashed suggestion fuel rationing could be implemented after a fire ripped through one of the country’s only two oil refineries.

The refinery contributes 10 per cent of the nation’s fuel stock pile, providing Victoria more than 50 per cent of its supply.

It took firefighters 13 hours to control the blaze.

Fire crews were still at the scene on Friday morning, where they will remain until they deem the plant 100 per cent safe to return to the owners.

Anthony Albanese visit the refinery on Friday, leaving his diplomatic trip to Malaysia early to inspect the effects of the fire.

Speaking to Today on Friday, the Deputy Prime Minister said the refinery company was “confident” the impact of the fire on fuel would be “relatively minimal”.

“What the company is confident that in terms of the impact on petrol specifically – which is the which is the part of the refinery that’s been most affected – that they will be able to cover that with imports … and there is imports of petrol available,” he said.

He also quashed any suggestion of fuel rationing.

“Obviously we’re not doing that,” he said.

In a statement from Viva Energy, the oil refinery confirmed the facility would still continue its operation at a “reduced production rates”.

“We anticipate that the impacts will be predominantly to the production of gasoline and aviation gasoline (avgas), however, the damage needs to be assessed and understood,” the statement read.

Despite the fire impacting gasoline and avgas, Viva Energy said there “no immediate impact to fuel supply”.

“(Viva Energy) expects to replace any lost production through its fuel import program,” the statement read.

The Geelong refinery’s manager Bill Patterson told reporters the business was taking “some steps to make sure the rest of the refinery is running as safely as possible”.

“Typically that doesn’t mean stopping everything, it just means bringing the rates down,” he said.

He confirmed the refinery was “still making petrol, diesel and jet fuel at a pretty decent rate”.

“It hasn’t been a very large impact at this stage, but obviously as we work through the full implications of the events of last night we’ll keep looking at that,” he said.

Mr Patterson explained the company’s petrol, diesel and jet fuel were produced in units separate from the refinery fire.

“There’s a specific couple of units that were impacted in the events of last night, they relate to a part of the refinery that combines LPG to make gasoline-type molecules,” he said.

“That’s what’s been damaged by the events of last night, but obviously we still have to look into the full extent of the damage as we get better access to the scene.”

An investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the fire, but early indications suggest it was triggered by equipment failure.

However, WorkSafe chief health and safety officer Sam Jenkins said it may take up to 12 months to complete the investigation.

“Right now, as Victoria’s health and safety and dangerous goods regulator, WorkSafe’s priority is supporting lead agencies to ensure that all work on the site is carried out safely and without risk to workers or the public,” he said.

“We understand there is significant community concern about this incident and will continue to engage with our stakeholders during the ongoing response and recovery.”

More to come