Viva Energy sees lower Geelong output in short term after fire, reports stronger Q1 margin (updated)

Viva Energy

20/04/2026 24:44

Refinery to produce diesel and jet fuel at 80% of capacity in short term

Co's residue catalytic cracking unit currently offline

Logs 5.1% rise in total group sales volume for March quarter

Adds share moves in paragraph 2, further details in paragraphs 5-6 and 8-9

April 20 (Reuters) - Australia's Viva Energy VEA.AX said on Monday it expects its Geelong refinery to produce diesel and jet fuel at around 80% of capacity and petrol at around 60% in the short term after a fire at the complex last week.

Shares of the fuel retailer fell as much as 9.5% to A$2.29, their lowest level since March 19, as trading resumed after a halt on Thursday.

The fire at the largest of Australia's two refineries on April 15 has hit petrol production just as the nation faces pressure to shore up fuel security with the Iran war disrupting global supply.

The firm's residue catalytic cracking unit (RCCU) is offline while operations stabilise, Viva said.

It expects to restart the RCCU over the next few weeks and lift production of diesel, jet fuel and petrol to over 90% of capacity, while investigating the cause of the incident.

"The refinery is then expected to continue production at these levels until repairs are completed," the company said without specifying further details on the timeline.

Separately, the fuel retailer said its Geelong refining margin surged nearly three-fold in the first quarter, while reporting a 5.1% rise in total group sales volume.

The firm said it had entered into agreements with the federal government to purchase additional cargoes over and above its normal requirements.

Viva Energy said Geelong does not typically use Middle Eastern crude and that supplies from the Americas, Southeast Asia and Australia remain unaffected, with firm crude supply flows secured through to July.

 (Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri and Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Stephen Coates and Subhranshu Sahu)

 ((Shivangi.Lahiri@thomsonreuters.com;))