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Refinery blaze threatens fragile fuel supply · The Front

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  Speaker 1: Today's biggest news from The Australian. I'm Christinamia with the
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  Speaker 1: Front's afternoon headlines. Australia's fuel supply could be disrupted for
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  Speaker 1: months after a blaze erupted at one of the nation's
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  Speaker 1: two domestic oil refineries. The Koya Refinery, which is owned
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  Speaker 1: by Viva Energy, caught fire around eleven pm on Wednesday,
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  Speaker 1: sending thick smoke into the sky over Geelong, where the
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  Speaker 1: facility is located, and triggering a major emergency response. Dozens
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  Speaker 1: of firefighters were deployed to battle the blaze into Thursday morning,
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  Speaker 1: while residents were warned to stay indoors to avoid exposure
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  Speaker 1: to toxic gases. Authorities believe the inferno was caused by
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  Speaker 1: a leak of flammable gases and hydrocarbons in the refinery's
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  Speaker 1: MOW gas plant that's an essential ingredient in high octane
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  Speaker 1: petrol production. Fire and Rescue Victoria said on Thursday a
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  Speaker 1: mechanical failure inside the unit allowed the gas to escape.
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  Speaker 1: The Ryote refinery produces petrol, diesel LPG, jet fuel and
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  Speaker 1: certain types of plastics, among other things, and processes as
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  Speaker 1: many as one hundred and twenty thousand barrels of oil
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  Speaker 1: every day. That's about ten percent of Australia's fuel requirements.
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  Speaker 1: State Energy Minister Lillly Danbrosio said on Thursday there would
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  Speaker 1: be no immediate impact to fuel supply in Victoria, where
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  Speaker 1: the Coryo refinery supplies about half of the state's energy requirements.
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  Speaker 1: About eleven hundred people are employed at the refinery. Those
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  Speaker 1: working on the site when the blaze erupted sprinted to
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  Speaker 1: safety and no injuries have been reported. Viva Energy Chief
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  Speaker 1: Executive Scott Wyatt said the company is working on securing
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  Speaker 1: the site before business can go ahead as usual. Parts
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  Speaker 1: of the refinery will continue to operate at a reduced capacity,
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  Speaker 1: with petrol and aviation gasoline production likely to take a hit.
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  Speaker 1: Aviation gasoline is different to jet fuel and is generally
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  Speaker 1: used in smaller aircraft. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris
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  Speaker 1: Bowen warned Australians against panic buying fuel in the wake
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  Speaker 1: of the blaze, and said his confident Viava will make
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  Speaker 1: up any shortfall.
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  Speaker 2: This is not a positive development, this is not good
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  Speaker 2: timing and this is a setback. But I can assure
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  Speaker 2: Australians the government and industry are working very closely together
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  Speaker 2: to manage the impacts of this fire and to ensure
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  Speaker 2: ongoing fuel security for Australians.
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  Speaker 1: It comes as Australia grapples with a growing fuel crisis
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  Speaker 1: sparked by the conflict in the Middle East, and experts
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  Speaker 1: say the government is now facing an uphill battle to
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  Speaker 1: shore up supply. Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi announced on Thursday
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  Speaker 1: his government secured an extra one hundred million liters of
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  Speaker 1: diesel from South Korea and Brunei.
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  Speaker 3: Additional fuel can be directed to where it is needed most,
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  Speaker 3: including to our farmers, so this is welcome news. It's
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  Speaker 3: a practical outcome of the engagement and the interventions that
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  Speaker 3: my government has had to deal with the consequences of
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  Speaker 3: a crisis right across the other side of the world,
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  Speaker 3: but one that is impacting here in our region and
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  Speaker 3: in Australia in particular.
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  Speaker 1: The PM said the diesel will arrive in two shipments.
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  Speaker 1: He also met with Malaysian Prime Minister and Wha Ibrahim
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  Speaker 1: in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, where they signed a joint
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  Speaker 1: statement on energy security. Opposition leader Angus Taylor said on Thursday,
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  Speaker 1: the incident at the Carreah refinery highlights the need for
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  Speaker 1: Australia to produce more oil.
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  Speaker 2: We need to get all out from under the ground.
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  Speaker 2: We are a country blessed with great natural resources. Let's
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  Speaker 2: use them.
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  Speaker 1: First the Strait of Hormores and now the Red Sea.
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  Speaker 1: Iran's top military commander threatened to stop trading through the
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  Speaker 1: Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman if the United
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  Speaker 1: States doesn't end its blockade of the vital shipping route.
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  Speaker 1: Blockade of the Strait of Hormals ordered by President Donald
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  Speaker 1: Trump came into effect on Monday that as Pakistani negotiators
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  Speaker 1: arrived in Tehran to continue peace talks between the US
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  Speaker 1: and Iran. Protest laws introduced in New South Wales by
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  Speaker 1: the Men's Labor government following the Bondai Beach massacre have
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  Speaker 1: been struck down by the Court of Appeal. The legislation
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  Speaker 1: gave police the authority to ban moving protests for up
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  Speaker 1: to ninety days following a terrorist event, but protest groups
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  Speaker 1: submitted to the state's top court that the laws were unconstitutional.
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  Speaker 1: That argument was accepted by the Court of Appeal, which
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  Speaker 1: handed down its decision on Thursday. Check out those stories
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  Speaker 1: live right now at The Australian dot com, dot a
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  Speaker 1: U and come back to the front first thing in
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  Speaker 1: the morning for a deep dive into the complex supply
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  Speaker 1: chain that's crunching Australia's economy. That's right here, Friday morning,