One of Australia’s two remaining oil refineries caught fire last week — and investigators are now looking at whether a valve that was allegedly months overdue for servicing may have caused it.
Just before midnight on Wednesday 15 April, Fire Rescue Victoria crews were dispatched to Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery in Corio after reports of explosions and a significant fire at the facility. The blaze originated in the refinery’s Alkylation unit, part of the broader Gasoline complex, and took until midday the following day to bring fully under control.
No workers were injured — a remarkable outcome given the scale of the incident and the nature of the materials involved. WorkSafe Victoria’s Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin confirmed that inspectors and major hazard facility specialists were deployed to the site to provide technical support to Fire Rescue Victoria and other lead agencies.
WorkSafe has since confirmed that reports of a faulty valve — one allegedly months overdue for scheduled servicing — will form a central part of its investigation into the cause of the fire.
The production impact has been significant. In the immediate aftermath, the refinery was running at approximately 60% petrol capacity and 80% diesel and jet fuel capacity. Viva Energy has indicated it expects to restore production to over 90% across all fuel types within the coming weeks, subject to plant inspection.
The broader implications extend beyond the facility itself. Australia has just two operational oil refineries — Geelong and the Ampol Lytton refinery in Brisbane — meaning any extended outage carries genuine national fuel security implications.
From a WHS perspective, this incident puts preventive maintenance back under the spotlight. A valve overdue for servicing is not just an operational risk — it is a potential safety and catastrophic incident risk at a major hazard facility. The question WorkSafe will be asking is whether the maintenance scheduling system failed, whether there was a conscious decision to defer the work, and whether appropriate risk controls were in place in the interim.
The investigation is ongoing.
