A fire at the Viva Energy refinery in Corio, near Geelong, on Wednesday night has ignited a national debate about Australia’s fuel security — and could soon hit Victorian drivers at the pump.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cut short his trip to Asia to visit the site of the blaze, declaring that Australia needs more refineries to safeguard its energy supply. Authorities have ruled out foreign interference as a cause of the fire, but the incident has thrown a spotlight on just how thin Australia’s refining capacity has become.
Supply chain expert David Leaney warned that the price of petrol in Victoria could jump by as much as 8 cents per litre as a result of the disruption. The Geelong facility is one of the country’s few remaining domestic refineries, meaning any outage has an outsized impact on local fuel supply.
The timing is particularly sensitive. With the US–Iran conflict roiling global energy markets and President Trump publicly criticising Australia over the Strait of Hormuz — a critical chokepoint for international oil shipments — the refinery fire has underscored how vulnerable Australia remains to both domestic and geopolitical shocks.
