Petrobras enters Asian bunker market with inaugural biofuel-infused VLSFO sale

Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas titan Petrobras has tapped into the Asian bunker market, having completed its inaugural sale of very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) with 24% renewable content (B24) in Singapore.

As disclosed, the VLSFO was sold to Golden Island, a bunker supplier based in Singapore. Petrobras has shared that the transaction took place in early February with the delivery date slated for the end of the month.

“The sale of VLSFO with 24% renewable content in the Asian market aligns with Petrobras’ strategy to develop new products for a low-carbon market, drive innovation to create business value and enable solutions in new energy and decarbonization,” Claudio Schlosser, Petrobras’ Director of Logistics, Commercialization, and Markets, highlighted.

The product, which Petrobras Singapore sells, was reportedly formulated through a blend of 76% mineral fuel oil that predominantly comes from the company’s refineries and 24% of the ISCC-EU certified UCOME (used cooking oil methyl ester), a biofuel derived from the processing of used cooking oil (UCO).

According to Petrobras, the company used the facilities of the Jurong Port Universal Terminal, where it has a lease agreement for fuel oil and B24 tanks, for the formulation.

The process of supplying bunkers with renewable content follows the same operational procedures used for 100% mineral bunkers, primarily utilizing smaller ships to load the product at the terminal and deliver i