What's Happening in Geelong, VIC…

Job security for employees of Geelong’s Corio refinery may have been strengthened following Viva Energy’s latest move to invest in Liberty Oil.

The company has taken a non-controlling interest in Liberty Oil. which is one of the biggest independent fuel distributors and wholesalers in Australia.

Viva Chief executive officer Scott Wyatt described the move as part of a wider programme aimed at boosting demand and improving the future outlook for Geelong’s Corio refinery.

Investing in Liberty, which is one of the company’s major customers, provides Viva Energy with an opportunity to expand its supply network substantially to regional Victorians.

It is thought that additional sales would lead to greater production at Geelong and the creation of a more sustainable manufacturing business.

Mr Wyatt saw the investment as an opportunity to turn around the refinery’s somewhat uncertain future it had been facing 12 months previously.

Instead, he said, it would now allow Viva Energy to create a more profitable and successful operation that could benefit the more than 1,000 contracts and employees throughout the State, as well as the Victorian economy and the Geelong community.

In addition to the Liberty acquisition, Viva Energy plans to invest $1 billion into upgrading and improving its refining operations, developing new product lines and increasing its supply capabilities.

Following the purchase of the Geelong Refinery by Viva Energy’s parent company, Vitol, in August, it is also now the country’s exclusive distributor of Shell lubricants and fuels – a fact which is reflected in marketing strategies such as catalogue printing.