Viva Energy shares slump in the aftermath of fire incident
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More news: Shares in Viva Energy tumbled in afternoon trade after the company said it expects to lift production at its Geelong Refinery to over 90% of capacity within the next few weeks.
The facility will produce diesel and jet fuel at approximately 80% of capacity and petrol at about 60% until permanent repairs are completed following a fire incident that broke out last week.
Shares had fallen 6.92% to $2.35 at 2:07pm AEST.
Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery will return to ‘over 90%’ production pending repairs
The news: Production of diesel, jet fuel and petrol at Viva Energy’s Geelong Refinery is expected to lift “to over 90% of capacity” over the next few weeks after a fire broke out last week, according to the company.
The numbers: In the short-term, the facility will produce diesel and jet fuel at approximately 80% of capacity and petrol at about 60%. The increase to “over 90%” is subject to plant inspection and the restarting of the residue catalytic cracking unit.
The context: Capacity will remain at “over 90%” until repairs are complete. An assessment of “damage, repairs, duration and financial impact to return to fully optimised production will commence this week”.
Viva has insurance coverage for property damage and business interruption and has notified its insurers.
Viva said it has sufficient fuel stocks to cover this reduced production and expected to maintain normal fuel supply to customers following this incident.
In a Q1 operating update, Viva said it does not typically source Middle Eastern Crude, with most of its supply coming from North and South America, Southeast Asia and Australia, which has not seen supply disrupted.
The company also said its fuel sourcing program has “continued without interruption”. It has “firm import cargo commitments through to the end of May”. This is consistent with its normal purchasing window, which is expected to continue rolling forward to June.
In the first quarter of FY26, Viva total group sales volume lifted 5.1% to 4,302 million litres. Convenience sales fell 6.1% year on year to $402 million.
