Viva Energy has gone into a trading halt following an out-of-control fire at one of the Australian’s two remaining oil refineries.
The Viva Energy oil refinery in Corio near Geelong went up in flames overnight, with reports of multiple explosions following an equipment failure.
In a brief statement to the ASX, the energy refiner, importer and distributor of fuel announced it was temporarily halting trading of its shares.
Viva Energy has gone into a trading halt after a major fire at its Geelong refinery. Picture: Supplied
“The company requests that the trading halt remain in place until the earlier of announcement by the company and the open of trade on Monday 20 April 2026,” it said.
Shares in Viva have surged 21.63 per cent over the past month as the conflict in the Middle East disrupts the global oil supply.
Viva Energy chief executive Scott Wyatt on Thursday told a press conference petrol production would be affected by the inferno.
“The units that are impacted are in the petrol complex and are part of the collection of units that do make petrol,” he said.
“But there are units that make petrol that haven’t been impacted by this incident as well … but naturally petrol will be one of the products that are potentially impacted depending how we operate the units after.”
Last week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Australia’s two remaining oil refineries, owned by Viva Energy and Ampol, had agreed to terms with Export Finance Australia to underwrite Australian fuel imports.
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