A major fire broke out Wednesday night at the Viva Energy refinery in Geelong (a port city southwest of Melbourne, Victoria), Australia's largest operating oil refinery, sending flames up to 60 metres high after a gas leak ignited a section of the plant. The blaze, which was brought under control by Thursday noon, knocked out production at a facility that supplies roughly 10 percent of Australia's fuel — a serious blow given the country already imports 80 percent of its needs and holds only about 38 days of reserves, well below the International Energy Agency's recommended 90-day minimum. The incident compounds pressure on Canberra amid a broader global energy crisis triggered by the disruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Israeli war on Iran, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing emergency diesel shipments from Brunei and South Korea while urging Australians to avoid panic-buying.