Australians have been warned working from home directives could come into effect as the country inches toward the next stage of the national fuel emergency plan.
On Wednesday, a fire at one of Australia’s two remaining oil refineries, Viva Energy Geelong refinery in the Victorian suburb of Corio, sparked price and supply fears.
The refinery provides about half of Victoria’s petrol and 10 per cent of the national supply.
Australia is currently operating at level two of the National Fuel Security Plan, which aims to keep the country moving.
But energy analyst Gero Farruggio from Rystad Energy said he “cannot see how Australia avoids moving to stage three”.
A move to the next step would see the government prioritise getting fuel to where it’s needed most, including farming, freight and emergency services.
The government would also “develop a nationally consistent approach for practical measures to reduce fuel demand”.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said in late March that encouraging working from home was “still under consideration” as part of the final two phases of the emergency fuel plan.
Mr Farruggio said the timing of the refinery blaze “could not be worse” and warned the impact could last for months.
“You can be heavily reliant on imports, or you can hold minimal reserves – but you cannot be both,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
“The real question is whether this conflict is resolved immediately or not … even if it is resolved immediately, you are still looking at two months of disruption before supply chains come back to normal and that product flowing back into Australia. We can’t avoid that.
“We need to move to the next level sooner rather than later because there’s no guarantee this will be resolved immediately.”
Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed stage three would include “more active encouragement” of voluntary fuel saving measures.
“Stage three is after an impact on supply in Australia, which we’ve not yet experienced … and really it then moves to more active voluntary measures … to encourage fuel efficiency,” he told a press conference on Thursday.
The Viva refinery processes about 120,000 barrels of oil per day and supplies 10 per cent of the country’s fuel, according to the Viva Energy website.
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday morning, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said there would be “some way to go” to work out the full impact on the refinery.
“It (the fire) is expected to be under control… it is impacting predominantly at the moment the production of petrol,” he said.
“Diesel and jet fuel remain under production at the refinery at reduced levels as a precaution at this point.
“Obviously, we will work very closely with Viva to manage the impacts and will get more information over the course of the day.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with oil refining heavyweights Brunei and Malaysia as part of a Southeast Asian diplomatic blitz aimed at shoring up Australia’s fuel and fertiliser supplies.
Australia imports around 90 per cent of its fuel needs, leaving it at the mercy of foreign refineries weathering the global oil crisis.
The country’s farmers also source some 60 per cent of their urea – the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser – from the Middle East.
Those imports have been cut by Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Extracted in full from: https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/australians-could-be-urged-to-wfh-as-expert-warns-next-fuel-plan-stage-is-unavoidable-after-fire-at-viva-oil-refinery/news-story/fbbfb7ecf62c12dc2475b49c50fae87d
