Viva Energy’s ULSG project at Geelong refinery to start up by yearend

Vitol Holding BV-backed Viva Energy Group Ltd. is on track to complete its previously announced upgrading project to enable ultralow-sulfur gasoline (ULSG) production at Viva Energy Australia Pty. Ltd.’s 120,000-b/d Geelong refinery adjacent to Corio Bay, about 50 km west of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia (OGJ Online, Nov. 18, 2024).

The ULSG upgrading project at Geelong is proceeding on schedule, with the refinery to begin ramping up ULSG production in August 2025 for targeted deliveries to retail sites by Dec. 15 to ensure compliance with the Australian federal government’s new fuel specifications coming into effect in late 2025, Viva Energy said on Apr. 14.

The update follows Viva Energy’s confirmation in its recently released annual report that, by yearend 2024, it had completed installation of key components for the new ULSG plant.

Once fully online, the ULSG plant will produce all grades of gasoline with a maximum sulfur content of 10ppm to enable importation of better vehicle technology into Australia that will result in major public health and environmental benefits from reduced tailpipe emissions and more fuel-efficient engines, according to the company’s 2024 annual report.

Scheduled to reach mechanical completion in second-half 2025, the ULSG plant will—upon full commissioning—allow the refinery to produce the cleanest gasoline ever manufactured in Australia, the operator said.

Regulatory compliance

First announced in 2021, Viva Energy’s ULSG upgrading project was approved in April 2022 at an overall investment of about $300 million (Aus.)—or about $222 million—following an award of $125 million under the Australian Federal Government’s refinery upgrades program (OGJ Online, Apr. 14, 2022; May 24, 2021).

Viva Energy Geelong refinery, Australia — Vitol-backed Viva Energy Australia Pty. Ltd.’s 120,000-b/d Geelong refinery in Victoria, Australia.

In its 2024 annual report, Viva Energy confirmed it will complete the project at a final cost of $350 million (Aus.), $200 million of which is dedicated to Australian procurement and construction contracts mostly awarded to businesses in the Geelong region.

The budget increase follows the federal government’s December 2023 announcement that fuel quality and noxious vehicle emissions standards would come into effect from December 2025 to ensure Australia’s fuel quality aligns more closely with international standards.

In compliance with the regulatory timeline, Viva Energy confirmed expanding the ULSG project to certify that—in addition to all of Geelong’s ULSG conforms to 10 ppm sulfur content—aromatics limits of the refinery’s RON95 mid-grade gasoline production conforms to the pending legislation’s stricter requirement of less than 35%.

Both the ULSG and aromatics upgrades are part of Viva Energy’s ongoing transformation of the Geelong refinery into a modern energy hub that supports Australia’s energy security while also playing an important role its energy transition, the operator said.

Future refining plans

In its 2024 annual report, Viva Energy said it was continuing to explore options to replace crude oil with biogenic and waste feedstocks at the Geelong refinery, with potential biofeedstock and waste processing projects for the site slated for development throughout 2025.

After confirming in its 2024 half-year results presentation undertaking of engineering design for infrastructure to store and co-process biogenic feedstocks at Geelong, Viva Energy said in its latest annual report that, by yearend 2024, it had completed a first investment in infrastructure to support co-processing at Geelong involving the injection of used cooking oil and soft-plastics pyrolysis oil into processing activities to produce recycled polyproylene and biopolymers.

Additionally, the operator said work remained under way on the scope and phasing of co-processing biofeedstocks at the refinery to produce renewable diesel, with the trial project’s first phase anticipated to deliver 50 ml/year of a 3% renewable-diesel blend potentially beginning in 2026.

Upon completing the second and third phases of the co-processing trial in 2028 and 2032, respectively, Viva Energy said it would then be better positioned to weigh committing to any major investment in a dedicated renewables plant at Geelong based on a tested confidence in both the feedstock and end-user markets.

With rising pressure for an abatement solution to address emissions from air travel, Viva Energy said that—alongside developing supply chains to import and distribute sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)—it also is evaluating possible at-scale production of SAF at Geelong leveraging existing processes at the refinery.

In addition to confidence in secure feedstock and end-user markets, the operator said key government policy and support also would be required to enable any investments in dedicated renewable diesel and SAF production capacities at Geelong.