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Billionaire prepared to put his own money into $15b oil refinery. Updated Sep 2, 2026 - 4.18pm, first published at 3.32pm The billionaire assessing whether Australia should build its first oil refinery in six decades says he will put his own cash into the potential $15 billion project, despite international oil majors dismissing local refining as unviable. Vikas Rambal, the Indian-born founder and chairman of industrial manufacturer Perdaman Global Services, said a facility could be profitable in Australia if built to sufficient scale, bucking the trend of refinery closures over the past decade as they struggled to compete with cheaper imports. "Absolutely we'll put our money in. We are not a consultant, we are a manufacturer," said Rambal. "I was approached by the [WA] premier and the prime minister [to assess a possible new refinery] because of my background, I said yes, it's possible, but we have to think large scale so that we can compete." Eight oil refineries have been closed across Australia over the past 20 years, leaving just two in operation: Viva Energy's plant in Geelong and Ampol's Lytton refinery in Brisbane. Western Australia has no refining capacity after oil major BP closed its Kwinana plant near Perth in 2021. The nation relies heavily on imports from areas such as South-East Asia and the Middle East - an arrangement that exposed the precarious nature of Australia's fuel supply chain when the conflict between the United States and Iran led to the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route being blocked. Viva and Ampol have struggled to turn a profit at their refineries for many years, but the Middle East conflict has sparked a major reversal in their fortunes. Operating profit at Ampol's Lytton facility rocketed to $533 million in the year to June 30, up from $1.1 million in the prior year, while underlying earnings at Viva's Geelong plant rose to $354 million from $18 million. The Albanese government in July asked Perdaman to investigate the feasibility of building a new refinery in WA, sparking criticism from green groups who believe it would encourage the wider use of fossil fuels. Business leaders also questioned its economic viability given an expected $10 billion to $15 billion construction price tag. "We want the refinery to be bankable," said Rambal, adding that any new refinery would most likely be backed by a mix of public and private funding. "This is a national project. It will look after Australia. There will definitely be [financial] input from the federal government, the state government... The cost of production will come down when you put in a world-scale refinery. "Should we have this refinery? It is a must. In the next era of uncertainty, we should have fuel security for this country." Rambal acknowledged that the project would not stack up without state support, but also expects to field interest from potential partners in the private sector. Privately owned Perdaman is due to deliver a feasibility study into the new refinery to the government in early 2027, with the Albanese government contributing $4 million to the cost. Rambal was speaking at the group's $6.4 billion Ceres fertiliser plant in WA's Pilbara, which is 85 per cent completed. Using a desalination plant and gas from energy giant Woodside's nearby North West Shelf operations, the fertiliser plant will produce 2.3 million tonnes of urea annually - more than half of Australia's annual consumption. Ceres will bolster the security of Australia's fertiliser supply after it was threatened by the Strait of Hormuz blockage. About a quarter of global seaborne trade in the key agricultural product passes through the channel. Perdaman has agreed to a 20-year gas supply deal with Woodside and a 20-year offtake agreement with Macquarie. The project is backed by $475 million in federal government loans. Rambal said at least a million tonnes of Ceres' annual urea production was earmarked for Australian farmers, as well as incentives for buyer Macquarie to sell the remaining output locally.

ASX 200 rises as miners rally and Ampol profit surges during reporting season's final week as banks lag. Mining sector gains and Ampol's standout profit boost ASX 200 despite banking sector weakness. Published 08/24/26 AT 3:01 PM AEST SYDNEY - The S&P/ASX 200 climbed 42.8 points, or 0.47%, to 9,101.7 as of 2:58 p.m. AEST Monday, as strength across the mining sector and a standout profit result from fuel retailer Ampol offset weakness in banks and insurers heading into the final week of Australia's corporate earnings season. The benchmark opened the session only marginally higher, up just 0.1% to 9,071 points at 10:15 a.m. AEST, according to ABC News' live market coverage, with miners in the basic materials sector and healthcare stocks leading the early gains while banks and insurers weighed on the index by weighting. By 11 a.m., the ASX 200 had extended its advance to 0.6%, reaching 9,110 points, with the broader All Ordinaries index posting a similar gain as big miners continued to drive the session's momentum. Fuel retailer Ampol delivered one of the standout results of the morning, with its integrated business model capitalizing on global product market dislocation to deliver a profit surge well ahead of analyst expectations. According to Market Index's live coverage, Ampol's replacement cost operating profit EBITDA rose 152% to $1.637 billion, beating Macquarie's estimate of $1.603 billion by 2%, while replacement cost operating profit EBIT climbed 245% to $1.392 billion, a 3% beat, driven largely by the company's Fuels and Infrastructure division, which surged 859% to $1.135 billion as its Lytton refinery swung to a $533.4 million contribution from just $1.1 million the prior year. Ampol's replacement cost net profit after tax rose 376%, according to the same report. Regional lender Bendigo and Adelaide Bank also reported results Monday, posting full-year statutory profit of $375 million, in line with analyst estimates. On the bank's preferred cash earnings metric, which strips out one-off gains and losses, profit rose a modest 3.0% to $530.2 million against estimates of $532 million, while second-half cash earnings of $273.8 million matched forecasts of $274 million almost precisely, according to Market Index. ABC News reported that second-half momentum showed greater strength specifically, with cash earnings up 7% to $274 million for that period. Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals delivered one of the day's more dramatic turnaround stories, reporting a full-year profit of $526 million after posting an almost $200 million loss the previous year. According to ABC News, sales revenue jumped 150% to almost $2 billion, driven in large part by a 120% increase in realized prices over the year. The company kept costs lower and will pay a full-year dividend of 5 cents per share, having skipped a dividend payment entirely the previous year. Quick-service restaurant operator Guzman y Gomez drew renewed analyst attention Monday following its recent earnings result. According to The Motley Fool Australia, Bell Potter downgraded the stock to a hold rating with an improved price target of $27.30, even as the broker praised the company's underlying performance. "While we think GYG is a clear leader in the QSR space after displaying strong comp sales growth, margin expansion, and further network growth opportunities, we see near-term cost headwinds and a consumer slow-down as a risk to FY27 guidance and view the current multiple as fairly valued. While we increase our PT ~11%, it is only a modest premium to the share price, so we downgrade to HOLD," Bell Potter said. Alcohol retailer Endeavour Group also featured prominently in Monday's earnings coverage, with management fielding investor questions about the durability of retail momentum and softening trade at its hotels division. According to Market Index, the company addressed its planned $100 million in cost reductions for fiscal 2027, noting that wage growth for the coming year is "quite materially elevated, and therefore the AUD 100 million of cost out will go to largely offset it, but will not drive more than an offset." Management also cautioned that the strong 4.6% start to retail sales in the new fiscal year had been flattered by heavy promotional activity, saying, "I hadn't seen a 20% off before, and hopefully we don't s - ," a comment cut off in the live coverage transcript. The company reported inventory down 11% to $24.1 million and a net cash position of $5.2 million, having repaid all borrowings, while noting fiscal 2027-to-date same-store sales across Australia and New Zealand were up 11.4% over the first seven weeks, even as online sales declined 8% amid reduced promotional activity. Gold miners were positioned for a strong start to the week, with Capricorn Metals and other gold-exposed names expected to benefit from continued strength in the precious metal, according to The Motley Fool Australia's preview of Monday's session. Meanwhile, early trading saw oil prices slip roughly 1%, or about $1 a barrel, across key global benchmarks, while gold prices edged higher. Investors are now heading into the final week of the current August reporting season, a stretch ABC News described as likely to prompt analysts to trim some earnings forecasts, even though the season overall has been far from disastrous. Discretionary spending-focused stocks have faced a particularly difficult stretch throughout the reporting period, and this week's calendar includes further releases from consumer-facing companies including Wesfarmers, Harvey Norman, Qantas and Domino's Pizza, all of which could produce significant share price swings depending on how their results land relative to expectations. Coles is also scheduled to report this week, according to ABC News' preview of the coming sessions. Numerous stocks traded ex-dividend Monday, a technical adjustment that tends to weigh modestly on individual share prices independent of broader market sentiment, according to ABC News' market notes. With the ASX 200 continuing to trade well below its all-time high of 9,198.6 points reached in February, but having recovered meaningfully from its closer-to-8,800 level in July, investors are likely to remain focused for the remainder of the week on how the final wave of major consumer, retail and travel-sector earnings reports shapes the index's trajectory heading into September, as the current reporting season draws to its conclusion.