Yamatji-Led Partnership to Explore a Renewable Diesel Refinery for WA's Mid West

(CNW Group/Yamatji/PR Newswire) Feasibility studies to assess a 1.1 billion litre a year plant near Geraldton, refining Western Australian canola and tallow into Australian made Agri-Diesel.

VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 14, 2026 /CNW/ -- The Yamatji Southern Regional Corporation (YSRC), Australian strategy and design firm Veyter and its Canadian parent Agilitas Advisory Corp. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore the development of a renewable Agri-Diesel refinery near Geraldton in Western Australia's Mid-West. The MOU was endorsed by the YSRC Board, and concept-stage work has now commenced as the parties progress the project through feasibility.

The plant would produce about 1.1 billion litres of Agri-Diesel a year, equivalent to 20,000 barrels a day or approximately 4 per cent of Australian diesel demand, from Western Australian canola and tallow. Agri-Diesel is a drop-in substitute for conventional diesel, requiring no blending or engine modification, and cutting lifecycle emissions by approximately 85 per cent. Output would be sold domestically into mining, agriculture, transport, aviation and defence markets.

A facility of this scale would carry indicative capital expenditure of approximately $2.5 billion, including the refinery, an integrated oilseed crushing facility and associated infrastructure. Confirming and refining that estimate will form part of the feasibility studies. Any decision to build would follow front-end engineering design and a final investment decision.

Diesel demand is growing at approximately 4 per cent a year in sectors with limited alternatives, including mining, freight, rail, ports, construction and defence. Australia remains heavily dependent on imported refined fuels, with approximately 80 per cent of refined petroleum product consumption met by imports. At the same time Australia exports feedstocks used to make renewable diesel. Western Australia is Australia's largest canola-producing state and accounts for around half of national production, worth about $1.2 billion a year, and Australia is the world's largest exporter of tallow.

Refining that feedstock domestically would keep more of the value onshore and reduce exposure to imported product, which the parties estimate carries a 2 to 8 per cent premium at the wholesale level. The Pilbara alone consumes around 4 billion litres of diesel a year.

"For Yamatji people, this is about moving beyond participation to genuine ownership of major industry on our Country," said Luka Gray, Chief Executive Officer of Yamatji Southern Regional Corporation. "A project of this scale has the potential to create lasting economic opportunities for Yamatji people, Mid West growers and the broader region, while contributing to Australia's domestic fuel security."

The project is being progressed on the basis of 51% First Nations majority ownership, giving Yamatji Traditional Owners a controlling interest in the project. The remaining 49% interest would be held by Veyter. The model is designed to ensure Yamatji people participate not simply as stakeholders or beneficiaries, but as majority owners of a major industrial project on Yamatji Country.

Oakajee Strategic Industrial Estate is being assessed as a potential location, alongside other sites within the Yamatji Nation ILUA area. Early estimates indicate approximately 4,000 construction jobs and approximately 400 direct operating positions, alongside additional demand for Mid West grain growers.

"Projects like this get financed when the feedstock, the land, the power and the offtake market are already in place. In the Mid West they are," said Ron Loborec, Managing Partner, Agilitas Advisory Corp. "We have taken renewable fuel projects to FEED stage in Canada with First Nations partners holding the majority, and that experience is what we bring here."

Australia currently has no commercial-scale renewable diesel production, and the project's viability depends on Commonwealth policy now under development, in particular the demand-side mechanism for low carbon liquid fuels. The parties consider that substantive demand-side certainty, alongside the Cleaner Fuels Program and the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund for Low Carbon Liquid Fuels, is a precondition for a final investment decision. Engagement will continue with the Commonwealth and the Western Australian Government.

"Projects of this scale are rarely undone by the engineering. They are successful as a result of the relationships, and by decisions taken with the right people in the room," said Andi Csontos, Strategy Designer, Veyter. "Our work is designing how this partnership makes its decisions, so that Traditional Owners, the State, growers and future offtakers each have a genuine say from the start."

The parties have commenced a staged 12-month program of work to complete a full pre-FEED study by Q3 2027. Subject to those results and a final investment decision, front-end engineering design would be underway in 2027 with first production targeted for 2032.

The project is at an early development stage. Further feasibility and stakeholder engagement work will be undertaken over the coming months.

Yamatji Southern Regional Corporation (YSRC) is the Regional Entity established to implement the Yamatji Nation Indigenous Land Use Agreement on behalf of the Yamatji Nation. The Agreement covers approximately 48,000 square kilometres across Western Australia's Mid West and provides a broad package of land, economic development, cultural heritage, water, conservation and other benefits designed to support self-determination and sustainable economic independence for current and future generations of Yamatji people. YSRC sets the strategic direction for the Yamatji Nation under the ILUA and works to develop economic, social, cultural and environmental opportunities for the benefit of its members. The Yamatji Land Estate comprises approximately 1,300 parcels across the ILUA area.

Veyter is a strategy and design firm headquartered on Gadigal Country in Sydney and operating across Australia, working with clients on strategy, stakeholder engagement, risk, sustainability, health and safety across mining, energy, construction and infrastructure. Veyter is the Australian subsidiary of Agilitas Advisory Corp. and is the developer of the Mid West project on the ground.

Agilitas Advisory Corp. is a boutique advisory firm headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, whose consulting, asset and engineering divisions integrate strategy, technical design, delivery and commercial execution across energy infrastructure. Agilitas holds equity stakes in First Nations-led renewable energy and low carbon liquid fuel projects in Canada, now advancing to FEED, and applies the same First Nations majority-equity model in Australia. READ MORE