<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A supply chain expert has warned that </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/victoria" rel="" target="_blank" title="Victorians"><span>Victorians</span></a><span> could face weeks of higher prices at the pump after </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/geelong-oil-refinery-fire-corio-blaze-triggers-warning-for-residents-to-stay-inside/c9009c7c-4cf1-4674-86b3-02481b25154e" rel="" target="_blank" title="the Geelong refinery fire"><span>the Geelong refinery fire</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The blaze that erupted at the Viva Energy oil refinery on Wednesday night has reduced diesel and jet fuel output to 80 per cent of normal levels, and petrol to 60 per cent, with the repair timeline currently unknown.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>David Leaney of the Australian National University said the company's output, which supplies 50 per cent of Victoria's fuel, would not be threatened.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-april-17-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines/d7652f60-9d6d-4fc3-b566-b0df27fb328f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>PM fires back over Trump attack on Australia</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The key difference here is that Viva will be buying additional fuel on the international market and they'll be importing that and that will cover the shortfall," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, he said, Victorians could potentially see a price rise, as Viva's international purchases would be spot prices rather than long-term contracts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The spot price can be up to 8 cents a litre higher than the contract price, and Leaney said "potentially" this could be passed on at the pump.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/geelong-viva-refinery-fire-expert-warns-prices-could-go-up-at-pump/394dad42-a038-41a6-bbee-1e3dc0b31867" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/viva-power-plant-fire-geelong-anthony-albanese-says-no-change-to-fuel-supplies/76bbcdf7-4dcf-470d-a840-872a0d36c154" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Albanese says 'no change' to fuel supply despite refinery blaze</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When would that happen? Fairly soon, as soon as those replacement contracts are in place," Leaney said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Any price increase could be expected to last at least a couple of weeks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Earlier this morning, Viva chief executive Scott Wyatt said the costs imposed by the fire would be "absorbed" and not passed on to the consumer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Except for this fire, costs were actually trending down, and the number of petrol stations out of fuel were trending down - two really good trends," Leaney told </span><em><span>Today</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"With the exception of Victorian motorists over the next two to four weeks, I think we can see petrol prices fairly stable."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-accused-war-crimes-bail-application/4c5f748b-245e-4a2f-9ce9-218bc168aba7" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith to seek freedom</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said another good sign was the government's securing of additional fuel supplies, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese touting the success of bringing in 100 million litres from overseas.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That amount of fuel is, however, typically what Australia consumes in just 1.3 days - but Leaney said the bigger picture was showing improvement, with fuel reserves trending up from 32 days at the beginning of the crisis, to close to 40 now.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These are good trends and it is important that we've got those supplies shored up," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>