PM cuts short Asian fuel mission after refinery fire
Anthony Albanese will return to Australia early from overseas following a major blaze at one of the nation’s two remaining fuel refineries.
Source: Today
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has cut short his fuel security mission in Malaysia to visit a Geelong oil refinery which went up in flames.
Albanese was scheduled to fly back to Sydney early on Friday, but left Kuala Lumpur on Thursday night.
The Viva Energy oil refinery is one of only two in Australia, and while the fire only damaged part of the facility there are fears it could lead to fuel shortages, particularly in parts of Victoria.
Albanese will meet leaders from the refinery to receive an update on the impact of the blaze. He’ll be accompanied by Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Defence Minister Richard Marles.
Marles told Nine’s Today on Friday that the the implications of the damaging blaze were still being worked through.
“The company is confident that in terms of the impact on petrol specifically … that they will be able to cover that with imports,” he said.
“They’re still working through numbers … but they are confident that the impact on fuel supply will be relatively minimal.”
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Albanese said in Malaysia on Thursday that the assessment was urgent.
”Clearly, there will be consequences for it, but there’ll be a proper assessment taking place over the coming short period as well,” he said.
His visit to Malaysia resulted in a deal where Australia will receive an extra 100 million litres of diesel to help deal with the fallout from the Iran war.
Albanese revealed details of the additional supplies after formal talks in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim that focused on ensuring energy supplies continued between both nations during the oil crunch.
The imports will come via shipments from Brunei, which Albanese visited before his Malaysia trip for energy-security talks, and from South Korea under export finance regulations.
In a joint statement signed inside the Malaysian government’s Perdana Putra complex, the leaders agreed to a “no surprises” policy on the trade of critical oil and fuel supplies after disruptions caused by the Iran war.
“The world looks very different to when you were here last year … global energy markets are under serious stress,” Anwar said at a joint media conference.
“Malaysia will always be a reliable partner to Australia,” he assured his Australian guest.
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The South-East Asian nation is Australia’s third-largest fuel supplier, providing 14 per cent of its diesel, 10 per cent of its petrol and 11 per cent of its jet fuel.
In turn, Australia provides almost all of Malaysia’s liquefied natural gas imports.
Still, Asian nations are concerned the Albanese government could introduce new export taxes on resources in the May budget.
“We commit to promote open and stable trade flows between our two countries, including for essential energy supplies,” the pair said in a joint statement after meeting at the official offices of the Malaysian leader.
“We will exchange views on energy trade-related matters on a ‘no surprises’ basis, and deepen practical co-operation on energy security for both countries.
“Both countries serve as energy suppliers to one another, underpinning a mutually important energy security relationship.”
Following his meeting with Anwar, Albanese spoke to executives from one of Asia’s largest oil companies inside the Malaysian Petroleum Club, seeking to secure more supplies for Australia in response to the fuel crisis.
Visiting Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas twin towers, Albanese sat down with senior leaders from the state-owned oil giant after which the building is named.
He spoke of strong trade ties between Australia and Malaysia, particularly in the energy sector, with Petronas having taken a stake in Queensland’s Gladstone LNG project.
“Friends need to work together, because we are living in very turbulent times,” Albanese said as the meeting opened.
Albanese described the twin towers in downtown Kuala Lumpur as iconic and said it was his fourth visit to Malaysia. He has travelled to the country twice as a tourist and once previously as PM.
Malaysia also imports hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian oil and fuel each year, some of which is sold on to Australia.
Ukraine has called for a total ban on the use of Russian oil.
-with AAP
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