Anthony Albanese cuts short his Malaysia trip and rushes back to Australia after emergency
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Anthony Albanese has abruptly ended his diplomatic 'fuel-securing' mission to Malaysia and is on his way back to Australia.
His office confirmed about 7pm that the Prime Minister has boarded a plane and will fly overnight to Geelong, where he will visit the Viva Energy oil refinery which erupted in a dramatic inferno last night.
He will receive an update on the damage and be accompanied on a tour by officials from the company, along with Defence Minister Richard Marles and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.
The PM has been set to fly back from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney on Friday.
There will need to be an assessment of the fire's impact on fuel supply, Mr Albanese told reporters after meeting with Malaysia's prime minister on Thursday.
''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.
The 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.
Details of the additional supplies were revealed by Mr Albanese after formal talks in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim that focused on ensuring energy supplies continued between both nations during the oil crunch.
Anthony Albanese is heading back to Australia following an emergency at one of Australia's two working oil refineries
A large fire destroyed parts of the Viva Energy oil refinery in Geelong early Thursday morning
The refinery supplies 50 per cent of Victoria's fuel and 10 per cent of the country's
The imports will come via shipments from Brunei, which Mr 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,' Mr Anwar said at a joint media conference.
'Malaysia will always be a reliable partner to Australia,' he assured his Australian guest.
The Southeast 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.
Albanese walks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim after an official welcoming ceremony at the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya, Malaysia
Foreign Minister Penny Wong (second left), Brunei Fertilizer Industries (BFI) CEO Dr Harri Kiiski (centre left), and Albanese (centre right) pose with employees just before he left for Malaysia
'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 the meeting with the Malaysian prime minister, Mr Albanese held talks with 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, Mr 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,' Mr Albanese said as the meeting opened.
Mr Albanese described the twin towers in downtown Kuala Lumpur as iconic and said it was his fourth visit to Malaysia, having travelled to the country twice as a tourist in his younger years and one other time as prime minister.
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.
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