Petrobras, through Petrobras Singapore, and Vale have entered into a commercial partnership to supply a ship chartered by the mining company with very low sulfur (VLS) B24, a marine fuel with 24% second-generation bio-diesel.
In collaboration with the company Oldendorff Carriers, the bulk carrier Luise Oldendorff was fuelled in Singapore on 22 April 2025, for testing.
The product was formulated by Petrobras Singapore (PSPL) itself in its locally leased tanks, by mixing 76% fossil fuel oil from Petrobras System refineries and 24% UCOME, a biofuel originated from the processing of used cooking oil (UCO) purchased in the region.
Petrobras Singapore has the ISCC EU certification, which guarantees that its product meets the strict sustainability criteria, a requirement that accompanies the entire biofuel logistics chain involved in this process.
The bio-bunker test continues the strategic partnership between Petrobras and Vale, which provides for the supply of products focused on competitiveness and advancing the decarbonisation agenda.
“We are developing increasingly sustainable fuels and honouring our commitment to decarbonising our activities. The partnership with Vale is yet another achievement of Petrobras’ goal of improving the company’s production capacity and logistics structure, to deliver greener products to the market and reinforce our decarbonisation strategy,” said Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard.
“Vale is firmly committed to promoting the decarbonisation of its operations. In this context, our shipping area has evaluated several scenarios to reduce GHG emissions in maritime transport, which includes the development of multi-fuel solutions for new and existing vessels that transport our products globally. Petrobras is a very important partner in this process,” added Vale CEO Gustavo Pimenta.
The tests with alternative fuels on vessels chartered by Vale are part of a series of initiatives by the mining company to promote and support decarbonisation in global maritime transport, in line with the emissions reduction targets of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Vale has the goal of reducing its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 33% by 2030. The company has also committed to reducing scope 3 emissions by 15% by 2035, related to the value chain, of which the majority of maritime transport emissions are part.
For Petrobras, the commercialisation of bunker fuel with renewable content is aligned with the strategy of developing and offering new products, towards a low-carbon market, and of innovating to generate value for the business, enabling solutions in new energy and decarbonisation. The company's 2025 - 2029 Business Plan foresees an investment of US$16.3 billion in energy transition initiatives, encompassing, in addition to projects in Low Carbon Energy, projects for decarbonising operations and R&D that permeates all segments. This volume represents 15% of the total CAPEX forecast for the five-year period (compared to 11% in the previous plan) and an increase of 42% compared to the previous plan.