Petrobras sells bunker fuel blended with 24% biodiesel

Petrobras announced it sold a marine fuel with renewable content—very-low sulfur (VLS) B24) in late July to supply ships off the Brazilian coast.

Petrobras is the country's first company to deliver a bunker to the market with 24 percent second-generation biodiesel, which the company said is produced from agro-industrial waste. 

Petrobras stated that the commercial operation reinforces its strategy of developing more sustainable products to operate in profitable markets, expanding the marketing of fuels with higher added value and a low carbon footprint. 

VLS B24, available on demand, is the result of mixing mineral bunker with biodiesel in specific tanks.

The VLS-B24 batch was obtained from mineral fuel produced in Petrobras refineries and mixed with biodiesel certified by ISCC EU RED, one of the most traditional certifications on the market. 

The product was mixed at Transpetro’s Rio Grande Terminal in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Supplying ships with this bunker type happens similarly to mineral bunkers and can occur via barge or moored operations.  

The commercialization of the VLS B24 was preceded by research and product improvements aimed at developing the low-carbon market.

Field tests carried out previously indicated that there were no atypical occurrences in the operation of the ships’ engines nor the fuel-treatment systems (centrifuges and filters), confirming the operational and commercial viability of Petrobras’ bunker fuel with renewable content. 

Claudio Schlosser, Petrobras’ director of logistics, markets and marketing, said the company is oriented toward a more sustainable future.

“In the search for a fair and safe energy transition in the country, we are reconciling the focus on oil and gas with the search for portfolio diversification in low-carbon businesses,” Schlosser said. “Product investments that generate profitability and societal environmental gains are fundamental for Petrobras.”