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Australian refiner Viva posts lower sales in Jan-Mar

  • : Oil products
  • 25/04/14

Australian refiner Viva Energy's January-March sales slumped against a year and quarter earlier, while its Geelong refinery margin (GRM) rebounded slightly despite the impact of a refinery-wide outage in January.

Total sales for the first quarter of Viva's fiscal year fell on lower commercial and industrial sales, which dipped by 6pc because adverse weather impacted mining demand.

Crude intake of 107,000 b/d at the 120,000 b/d Geelong refinery was up by 6pc on the quarter, but 6pc lower on the year. Viva's energy and infrastructure division was hit by a A$20mn ($12.6mn) loss after an unplanned shutdown at Geelong resulting from a power outage in January. Geelong's October-December output was affected by problems with the refinery's residual catalytic cracker unit, late crude arrivals and minor unscheduled maintenance.

The GRM was marginally above breakeven levels, Viva said, despite the January outage. Tariffs imposed by the US on its trading partners have led to a fall in oil prices, which should stimulate consumer demand and support retail margins, and the firm has limited exposure to customers directly dependent on US markets, it said.

Viva's upgrade to ultra-low sulphur gasoline at the 120,000 b/d Geelong refinery is on schedule, with supply expected to begin from August to meet the federal government's deadline of December this year.

A proposed large-scale advanced soft plastics recycling facility to be co-developed with waste management firm Cleanaway will proceed to initial engineering phase in 2026, Viva said on 9 April. The project aims to convert waste soft plastics into food-grade recycled plastics but requires policy certainty, which is expected once details of Canberra's packaging reform, the Extended Producer Responsibility, are released.

Viva Energy results(b/d)
Jan-Mar '25Oct-Dec '24Jan-Mar '24q-o-q % ±y-o-y % ±
Refining intake107,000101,000112,0006-6
Sales288,000298,000297,000-3-4
GRM ($/bl)871218-34
Viva has adjusted volumes to account for its acquisition of OTR retail group on 28 March 2024

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