The Presidente Bernardes Refinery (Cubatão Town) will supply Diesel R5 to Brazil’s leading consumer market as of March After consolidating the sales of Diesel R5 at the Presidente Getúlio Vargas Refinery (Repar) in Paraná State Petrobras will start selling the product in the state of São Paulo in the first week of March The Presidente Bernardes Refinery (RPBC) in Cubatão can sell this fuel regularly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions  Petrobras has started selling renewable diesel in Sao Paulo Photo: Presidente Bernardes Refinery (RPBC) in Cubatão The sales of Diesel R5 at RPBC reinforce Petrobras’s strategy to produce greener fuels.  'The Diesel R5 supply by the RPBC demonstrates the progress of the company’s investments in decarbonization Petrobras has taken another step toward increasing the renewable diesel supply and catering to a market that seeks green solutions to cut down its emissions,' says Petrobras’s Sales According to Petrobras’s Industrial Process and Product Director William França the investments in low carbon demonstrate the company’s option for a fair energy transition: 'Petrobras has been meeting its efficiency and reliability targets; it is also dedicated to decarbonizing its products and processes We were the first company in Brazil to develop its own co-processing technology; we introduced renewable fuel in our units that don’t require engine adaptations or changes to be used.'   Petrobras is a pioneer in developing renewable diesel generated by co-processing crude oil byproducts (mineral portion) with vegetable raw materials The reduction in emissions associated with the renewal portion is at least 60% compared to the mineral diesel.  the Diesel R5 can be used without vehicle adaptations It is a highly stable and contaminant-free product which makes for engine durability and performance.  In addition to the Presidente Getúlio Vargas Refinery (Repar which has been selling it since 2002 and now another two Petrobras refineries ran Diesel R5 production tests late last year RJ) has adapted its logistical infrastructure and hydrotreatment process units is finishing the logistical infrastructure adjustments Original announcement link A global information service for upstream oil and gas opportunities - divestitures The energy-pedia databank contains links to information on the world financial and energy markets, including share prices, oil and gas prices and the global stock exchanges. 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Subscribe to the FREEenergy-pedia Daily NewsletterSubscribe Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has extinguished a fire that occurred on May 17 at its 170,000-b/d Refinaria Presidente Bernardes (RPBC) refinery in Cubatão RPBC’s on-site fire brigade team immediately isolated and controlled the fire which broke out following a diesel oil spill While the operator did not identify the specific unit impacted by the fire Petrobras did confirm no other refining units were damaged as a result of the incident nor were any injuries reported in the aftermath of the event With the incident now reported to all necessary environmental and regulatory agencies—and an investigation presumably to follow—Petrobras said there will be no interruption to production of petroleum products or risks to market supply in the fire’s wake Additional details regarding the incident were not disclosed Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University 43,000+ global companies doing business in the region 102,000+ key contacts related to companies and projects news and interviews about your industry in English Brazilian energy producer Petrobras has launched Ultra Low Sulfur Marine Gas Oil (ULSMGO) in the Port of Santos To remind, Petrobras has carried out Brazil’s first bunker delivery with renewable content at the Rio Grande Terminal, in Rio Grande do Sul, on 31 December. Now, in Port of Santos, ULSMGO has a maximum sulfur content of 0.1%, which is considered very low and is required in the Sulfur Emission Control Areas (ECAS), where the restrictive limits for the emission of sulfur oxides resulting from the burning of fuel on vessels. According to the company, Gas Oil delivered in Santos since 1st March 2023 and is produced  at the Presidente Bernardes refinery (RPBC) in Cubatão (SP). Delivering this product with a lower sulfur content at the Port of Santos is one of the initiatives to offer society products with a guarantee of lower emissions. ..said Sandro Paes Barreto, executive manager for commercialization in the domestic market at Petrobras. By using this product, shipowners can reduce emissions of the pollutant sulfur oxide, n addition to avoiding stops for refueling, reducing cost and time on a trip. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "aa23162e906bf6f14c9a998e77d012ac" );document.getElementById("c08a1a06c7").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); View of the Presidente Bernardes refinery of Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras, in Cubatao, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, on November 4, 2021. Photo: AFP Many Brazilian businessmen are leaving South America to invest in the wine sector in Portugal, seeking to fulfill ... a source with direct knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday.The investor group includes British Columbia's pension fund and Chinese and Singaporean sovereign wealth funds CIC [CIC.UL] and GIC [GIC.UL] The preliminary agreement will be submitted to the companies' boards and the transaction is expected to close in late September said the source.Brazil's state oil company and Brookfield also declined to comment.The deal will be the largest divestment so far in the heavily indebted oil company's $15 billion asset sale plan.Reuters reported on May 11 that Brookfield had entered exclusive talks to acquire Nova Transportadora do Sudeste SA or NTS as the Petrobras subsidiary is informally known 12.The talks took longer than expected because the parties and their financial and legal advisers had to agree on terms of new contracts establishing the commercial relationship between Petrobras and NTS according to the first source and two other people with direct knowledge of the matter All three asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.During the exclusive talks the investor group led by Brookfield raised the stake it was offering to acquire in NTS to 90 percent from 82 percent.The investment banking unit of Banco Santander Brasil SA advised Petrobras on the deal.The sale should give a boost to downsizing efforts at Petrobras which hinge on divestments to cut the largest debt burden of any global oil firm of a total $15.1 billion target for divestments expected by the end of this year.NTS has nearly 1,560 miles (2,511 km) of pipelines in southeast Brazil.(This version of the story corrects amount of assets sold by Petrobras so far this year to $3.9 billion instead of $1.4 billion corrects target date for achieving $15.1 billion in total divestments to end of this year instead of end of next year paragraph 10)Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved The Presidente Bernardes Refinery (Refinaria Presidente Bernardes) in Cubatao Sulphur recuperation and residual gas treatment is one of the country's largest and is responsible for the production of a little over 12% of Brazil's fuel oils While the refinery has undergone numerous expansions and updates it is still one of the country's mainstays in fuel production and the industrial area in which it is situated is the largest centre for refining crude oil and producing chemicals in Brazil (45% of fuel comes from here) The last upgrade to the Presidente Bernardes refinery occurred in 1998 when a diesel hydrotreater unit was commissioned (so that the refinery could produce low-sulphur diesel oil – a major pollution bugbear in Brazil); this was built through a $270m investment (part of $1bn that Petrobras invested in low-sulphur technology across all of its facilities during the period 1998–2002) The diesel treatment unit started commercial production in January 1999 and had a processing capacity of 5,000m³ a day is the owner and operator of the Presidente Bernardes refinery Cubatao was known in the 1980s as one of the most polluted areas on earth but much work has been done by its industries to improve conditions In 2007 it was reported that Skanska had been contracted by Petrobras to work on an expansion and upgrade of the Presidente Bernardes refinery (situated 60km from San Paulo) The contract involves the construction of two new refinery units at the facility These are a sulphur recuperation unit and a residual gas treatment unit The investment into this technology totals $84m (Skanska share is 65% SKr380m) and will aid the refinery in continuing to develop high-grade clean fuels and to lower its effect on the surrounding environment Skanska will be partnered in the project by the Brazilian engineering company Engevix Engeharia Skanska is the senior partner and will be responsible for the management of the project commissioning / validation testing and start-up (a turnkey project) The project began in the third quarter of 2007 and is expected to take 29 months with start-up scheduled for late 2009 / early 2010 The projects at the refinery are to improve the quality of emissions from the refinery and also to improve the environmental quality of diesel fuel produced With reference to the environment and from an economic point of view Brazil has always been interested in the use of alcohol to substitute for conventional hydrocarbons in auto engines The 'pro-alcohol' scheme for light automotive engines has been underway since 1975 and has been a success The next pollution problem for Brazil was to be the diesel engine With this in mind and following major research the government decided to require that a proportion of ethanol (up to 15%) should be incorporated into diesel fuels (this is made difficult as emulsifiers are needed as well so the ethanol does not separate out in the fuel tank) Buses in the regional town of Curitiba now run on a mixture of 86% diesel 11% anhydrous alcohol and 2.6% AEP-102 additive (the additive prevents separation and also helps to increase the cetane number of the fuel so that its ignition characteristics are not compromised) A possible alternative in the future would be to switch a proportion of ethanol production to give butanol With Brazil taking atmospheric pollution much more seriously the Presidente Bernardes refinery was one of the first to embrace an environmental pointer for atmosphere emissions; this was the AEISOX (Atmospheric Emissions Index of SOx) Refineries are the main contributors of SOx emissions (the recently started Skanska project is part of the clean-up process) The refinery introduced the new AEISOX in an online plant information software interface that was accessible to the employees In this way the SOx emission of different areas of the refinery may be monitored online Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Petróleo Brasileiro SA has officially started the nonbinding phase in its program to sell three of its Brazilian refineries and associated logistics assets the sales of which were previously delayed to accommodate revisions to divestment plans for each of the sites Petrobras began notifying potential buyers that they have been approved to participate and submit nonbinding proposals in the sale process for the refineries and related assets including the 130,000-b/d Refinaria Abreu e Lima (RNEST) refinery; 208,000-b/d Refinaria Presidente Getulio Vargas (REPAR) refinery; and 208,000-b/d Refinaria Alberto Pasqualini (REFAP) refinery A definitive timeframe for the nonbinding phases for the proposed sales in northeast Brazil and representing 5% of the country’s total refining capacity the RNEST refinery —which has the potential to double its capacity to 260,000 b/d with startup of a second 130,000-b/d processing train—includes a terminal with crude and product storage capacities of 4.706 million bbl and 5.496 bbl in southern Brazil and representing 9% of the country’s total refining capacity the REPAR refinery—which caters mainly to the local markets of Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul—includes five terminals equipped to store 3.472 bbl of crude and 6.034 bbl of finished products Logistics infrastructure assets involved in the sale also will include a 476-km pipeline network in southern Brazil and representing 9% of the country’s total refining capacity the REFAP refinery—which caters mainly to the local markets of Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná—includes two terminals with crude and product storage capacities of 3.652 million bbl and 5.820 million bbl as well as a set of pipelines totaling 260 km The competitive sale process remains under way and negotiations ongoing in the binding phase for the operator’s divestment of its 166,000-b/d Refinaria Gabriel Passos (REGAP) refinery—including a set of pipelines of more than 720 km—in Betim Despite its divestment program to shed nearly 50% (1.1 million b/d) of Brazil’s national refining capacity Petrobras—as part of its portfolio management strategy and improved allocation of its capital—said it will continue to concentrate investments on assets with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have proved more competitive over the years The investments come as part of the planned $6.1 billion Petrobras intends to spend on its refining business under the company’s 2022-26 strategic plan as well as its previously announced RefTOP program which aims to prepare the operator’s remaining refining assets both for an open more competitive market in the country and the transition to a low-carbon economy Alongside expanding existing refining capacity refining-related investments will focus on initiatives to increase efficiency and operational performance of Brazilian refineries not involved in operator’s divestment portfolio Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) as part of the company’s 2023-27 strategic plan expanded its program to modernize refining assets not included in its ongoing downstream divestment portfolio The move was taken to ensure long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the business in a global market transitioning to a low-carbon future the multiyear modernization program consists of initiatives designed to improve efficiency and operational performance of the refineries including works to optimize processing capabilities and quality of production at the sites It also features projects in line with the operator’s commitment to decarbonize corporate-wide operations by 2050 In addition to presenting an overview of current and future works included within the RefTOP framework and general refining investment plan this article discusses Petrobras’s proposed expansion of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production Aimed at positioning itself more competitively within Brazil’s plan to open its national refining sector to outside investors Petrobras launched RefTOP in May 2021 at a proposed budget of about $300 million as part of its 2021-25 strategic plan The program covers modernization and upgrading works at the five refineries the operator will retain following completion of its downstream selloff Alongside initiatives to increase the refineries’ energy performance by enabling better reuse of inputs such as natural gas and steam generated by their own operations the RefTOP program also promotes intensive use of digital technologies and robotization throughout the refining complex including expanding existing use of digital twins Another important driver of the program involves increasing production of high value-added products such as diesel and propylene the latter of which will serve as feedstock for Brazil’s petrochemical industry to help meet rising demand for plastics RefTOP also includes works to help the refineries leverage processing of Brazil’s own low-sulfur presalt crudes allowing the sites to achieve competitive advantages and opportunities for increasing margins by favoring production of low-sulfur S-10 diesel (10 ppm sulfur) and bunker fuel Upon approval of official investments under its latest strategic plan revealed in late-November 2022 Petrobras has now more than doubled its budget for RefTOP works to $813 million which is included in the $7.8 billion of capital investments planned for its refining system through 2027 Petrobras says investments under the RefTOP and general refinery improvement spending plans are yielding favorable outcomes RefTOP investments at REPLAN had resulted in the refinery reaching its highest utilization rate on record with the site processing an average 427,000 b/d of crude oil—or 12.8 million bbl total—for a monthly total utilization factor (FUT) of 98.4% (Fig Petrobras said REPLAN’s record-high September FUT came alongside ongoing investments in the entirety of the company’s other remaining refining assets that—including REPLAN—reached a monthly FUT of 97% Improved performance of the refining units amid these same investments during August-September increased the nine refineries’ combined FUT for third-quarter 2023 to 95.8% Investments under Petrobras’ 2023-27 spending plan for RefTOP moving forward include 148 works aligned with its objectives of increasing operational availability and increasing presalt crude processing capacity of its REPLAN The kg CO2e/CWT indicator uses the Complexity Weighted Tonne (CWT) methodology developed by Solomon Associates and the Association of European Oil and Gas Refining and Distribution Companies specifically for the European oil refining industry and adopted by the European Union Emissions Trading System to set the sector’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets The CWT of a refinery considers a load equivalent to distillation in terms of potential GHG emissions given the different process units and respective loads processed in a refinery making it possible to compare emissions from refineries of various sizes and complexities Projects are already under construction to expand and improve production quality of low-sulfur S-10 diesel installation of a new hydrotreater that will produce 63,000 b/d of  S-10 diesel is due in second-half 2025 revamp of a hydrotreater adding 28,000 b/d of production is scheduled for startup before end-2023 (Fig Procurement is also under way for a hydrotreater at REVAP that will increase production by 41,000 b/d during second-half 2025 A separate project at REPLAN currently under technical and economic feasibility studies involves a potential revamp of the refinery’s existing coker to achieve a 10,000-b/d expansion of processing capacity at the unit during second-half 2027 Petrobras is also moving forward with the proposed completion and expansion of a second processing train at its original nameplate-capacity 130,000-b/d RNEST refinery (Fig Approved in late-June 2023 following reassessment and confirmation of its economic attractiveness the project involves resuming implementation of the previously stalled RNEST Train 2 Petrobras said revival of the RNEST Train 2 project—which is scheduled to begin operating in 2027 to reach full capacity in first-quarter 2028—will contribute to increased production of finished petroleum products to meet market demand RNEST’s Train 2 has the potential to double the refinery’s capacity to 260,000 b/d Confirmation of the project follows Petrobras’s April 2023 launch of works to improve operations of existing RNEST Train 1’s atmospheric distillation unit and other unidentified auxiliary units that will return Train 1’s total crude oil processing capacity to 130,000 b/d Scheduled for completion during fourth-quarter 2024 Train 1’s proposed modernization also will enable Petrobras to increase its supply of 100% low-sulfur S-10 diesel for the Brazilian market beginning in 2025 In addition to reducing emissions of particulate matter S-10 diesel—which has a higher cetane number than S-500 diesel (500 ppm sulfur)—promotes improved fuel performance of vehicle engines in line with Brazil’s stricter air pollution control program for on-road heavy-duty and utility vehicles In addition to ongoing optimization of its conventional refining assets Petrobras has dedicated $600 million to its BioRefino program which aims to expand the operator’s production of SAF and renewable diesel at new and existing plants Petrobras has undertaken technical and economic feasibility studies for construction of a grassroots dedicated biorefining plant that would be equipped to flexibly process 790,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of various renewable feedstocks to produce 6,000 b/d each of SAF and renewable diesel as well as 3,000 b/d of other unidentified renewable products the proposed 15,000-b/d biorefining plant would come online in 2027 and reach full-production capacity during first-half 2028 The planned RPBC project comes alongside Petrobras’s goal of expanding its production of renewable fuels via co-processing of renewable feedstock with conventional crude The REPAR refinery currently produces 32,000 b/d of diesel with 5% renewable content through co-processing Across its integrated downstream operations Petrobras said it plans to expand production of renewable diesel to more than 154,000 b/d by 2027 by expanding co-processing capabilities at the REPAR Petrobras also entered an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Co (MIC) subsidiary Mubadala Capital (MC) to explore potential investment in a biorefinery project under development at MIC-owned Refinaria de Mataripe SA’s (REFMAT) 300,000-b/d refinery in the Recôncavo Baiano region of Bahia the companies have agreed to develop studies covering future business in the downstream segment including evaluating Petrobras’ participation in an integrated biorefining project at REFMAT that would produce renewable diesel and SAF from macaúba palm Aligned with elements of Petrobras’ currently evolving 2024-28 strategic plan aimed at preparing for a more sustainable future potential investment opportunities in the proposed biorefining project would help further diversify the company’s portfolio in a way that supports the corporate 2050 net zero goal While neither Petrobras nor MC have disclosed further details of the proposed development plan MC confirmed the plan follows an agreement signed in April 2023 between the state of Bahia and Acelen a company MC created expressly to operate the Matripe refinery after acquiring the site and related assets from Petrobras in late 2021 Acelen estimated overall investment required to complete the planned Matripe biorefinery at about 12 billion Brazilian real (US$2.4 billion) with final investment decision on the biorefining project expected by yearend 2023 Petrobras said it also has entered a deal with partners Ultrapar Participações SA and Braskem SA for a pilot project to test processing of petrochemical products and fuels from 100% renewable materials at jointly owned Refinaria de Petróleo Riograndense SA’s (RPR) 17,000-b/d refinery in Rio Grande the first pilot test will involve adapting RPR’s existing FCC with proprietary technology developed by Petrobras’s research and development center to process completely renewable feedstocks A subsequent test slated for June 2024 will entail co-processing conventional crude with bio-based feedstock to produce propylene all with renewable content from advanced raw materials produced from non-edible biomass the pilot program could result in conversion of RPR’s refinery into Brazil’s first biorefinery producing finished products from 100% renewable feedstock