- Tank terminals Oceania depends on are mostly converted refineries: only two of Australia’s six former refineries still process crude.
- Ampol’s Kurnell terminal in Sydney holds 750 million litres, Australia’s largest liquid fuel import facility.
- Lytton (Ampol) and Geelong (Viva Energy) are the last two operating refineries, at 109,000 bpd and 128,000 bpd respectively.
- BP’s Kwinana site converted from a 146,000 bpd refinery to a fuel import terminal in 2021.
- Coogee expanded diesel storage at Kwinana to over 240 million litres in 2023 under a federal fuel security program.
- Quantem operates the region’s largest independent network: 12 sites across Australia and New Zealand totalling roughly 600,000 m³.
Eighty percent of Australia’s petrol, diesel, and jet fuel now arrives by ship. The tank terminals Oceania relies on to hold that fuel are almost all former refineries, converted one by one as local refining stopped paying its way. Only Ampol’s Lytton plant in Brisbane and Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery still process crude. Everywhere else, from Sydney to Perth, storage has replaced production.
How we ranked the top 10 tank terminals Oceania
No single public database ranks every bulk liquid site in the region, so this list orders the tank terminals Oceania by a mix of confirmed storage capacity, national fuel security role, and independent verification against operator and government sources. Where a precise capacity figure could not be confirmed publicly, the entry is described by function and scale rather than an invented number.
1. Kurnell Terminal, New South Wales
Operator: Ampol. Converted from Caltex’s Kurnell refinery in a $200 million project completed in 2014, Kurnell now holds 750 million litres across storage that once served an oil refinery footprint of 56 tanks. Ampol’s own reporting describes it as Australia’s largest liquid fuel import terminal, supplying the Sydney basin and Sydney Airport. Ampol is also exploring a Kurnell Energy & Industry Hub on surplus land, potentially including battery storage.
2. Lytton Refinery and Terminal, Queensland
Operator: Ampol. Lytton is not a converted import site. It is one of only two Australian refineries still processing crude, running at roughly 109,000 bpd (6.5 billion litres a year) on the Brisbane River. Its integrated terminal storage makes it a dual-role asset: refining capacity and finished-product storage combined, a distinction the site is often mischaracterised as lacking.
3. Geelong Refinery, Victoria
Operator: Viva Energy (backed by Vitol). The other of Australia’s two surviving refineries, Geelong runs at approximately 128,000 bpd. Alongside Lytton, it supplies the roughly 20% of Australian fuel demand still met by domestic refining, with the remaining 80% imported through terminals like Kurnell and Kwinana.
4. Kwinana Terminal, Western Australia
Operator: BP Australia. Once Australia’s largest refinery at 146,000 bpd, Kwinana ceased refining in 2021 and converted to a fuel import terminal, a transition BP said would cut site jobs from around 650 to roughly 60. It remains Western Australia’s primary import point for petrol, diesel, and jet fuel, feeding the state’s mining and agricultural sectors.
5. Coode Island Terminals, Victoria
Operators: Stolthaven Terminals and Quantem. At the Port of Melbourne, Stolthaven’s Coode Island site runs 11 tanks totalling 27,521 m³ for chemicals and petroleum products, alongside Quantem’s adjacent Coode Island I facility. Combined, this is the main multi-user bulk liquid precinct serving southern Australia, and one of the busiest tank terminals Oceania has for chemical imports specifically.
6. Quantem Terminal Network, Australia and New Zealand
Operator: Quantem, formed from the 2019 merger of ANZ Terminals and Graincorp Liquid Terminals. The network spans 12 locations across Australia and New Zealand with roughly 600,000 m³ of combined storage, making it the region’s largest independent bulk liquid operator. Sites include Pinkenba in Queensland, handling aviation fuel and industrial chemicals for northern markets.
7. Coogee Bulk Tank Storage, Kwinana, Western Australia
Operator: Coogee Chemicals. Coogee added 120 million litres of diesel storage at its Kwinana site in 2023 under the federal Boosting Australia’s Diesel Storage Program, taking total capacity past 240 million litres with Viva Energy as foundation customer. Coogee describes itself as WA’s largest independent fuel terminal storage provider on the strength of this expansion.
8. Port Botany Bulk Liquids Precinct, New South Wales
Operators: Multiple, including Vopak. Port Botany functions as the primary maritime gateway for specialised liquid and gas imports into New South Wales, connecting by pipeline to landside storage that feeds the broader Sydney fuel supply chain alongside Kurnell.
9. Mount Maunganui Terminals, New Zealand
Operators: Quantem and Stolthaven. At the Port of Tauranga, New Zealand’s busiest export and import gateway, this terminal cluster handles the bulk of the North Island’s chemical, vegetable oil, and petroleum imports, extending the same two operators’ Coode Island footprint across the Tasman.
10. Port Bonython Fuel Terminal, South Australia
Operator: IOR Supply & Trading. A deep-water diesel import site serving regional South Australia, Port Bonython supports transport, farming, and remote mining operations across the state’s centre, filling a supply gap the eastern-seaboard terminals don’t reach.
The future of tank terminals Oceania: what to watch in 2026
With Lytton and Geelong the only refineries left, every future capacity decision in the region is now a storage decision rather than a refining one. Federal fuel security funding, like the program behind Coogee’s Kwinana expansion, is likely to keep favouring independent terminal operators over the refiners-turned-importers, and further conversions or capacity additions across the tank terminals Oceania network should follow the same pattern through 2026.
Source: Ampol, Stolt-Nielsen
Which is the largest tank terminal in Oceania?
Ampol’s Kurnell terminal in Sydney, at 750 million litres, is Australia’s largest liquid fuel import facility, though Kwinana and Lytton hold larger historic refinery-era infrastructure.
What criteria determines this ranking?
There’s no single official capacity register for the region, so ranking here combines confirmed storage capacity, national fuel security role, and independent verification against operator and government sources.
Are any Oceania refineries still operating?
Yes. Ampol’s Lytton refinery in Queensland and Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery in Victoria are the only two of Australia’s original six refineries still processing crude, supplying roughly 20% of domestic demand.
Why have so many Australian refineries converted to terminals?
Large-scale, export-oriented refineries in Asia and the Middle East made smaller Australian plants uncompetitive on margin, prompting BP, Caltex/Ampol, and others to convert sites like Kwinana and Kurnell into import terminals instead.
What could change these rankings by 2027?
Further federal fuel security funding, similar to the program behind Coogee’s Kwinana diesel expansion, is likely to keep boosting independent terminal capacity ahead of the refiner-owned sites.