Petrobras halts Rio Grande bunker deliveries after storm

Barge loading has stopped at the Rio Grande Terminal after a power outage caused by a tropical storm hitting the city, with no estimate yet for when the supplier can resume.

IMAGE: Container terminal in Brazil. Getty Images

A tropical storm brought winds of more than 100 km/h into the southern Brazilian city of Rio Grande in the early hours of Monday, damaging local infrastructure and knocking out power to the terminal, the state-owned oil firm and bunker supplier said.

In a notice to customers on Monday evening, Petrobras said it could not reliably estimate a restart, or confirm when deliveries would resume, or whether a longer period of time would be required for infrastructure recovery.

Supply at the port was reported to be tight before the storm. VLSFO and LSMGO were offered only on prior consultation over the past week, on lead times of 7-10 days, a trader told ENGINE.

Rio Grande is also where Petrobras blends and loads B24 VLSFO.

Earlier, in January, the company agreed to supply up to 12,000 tonnes of the fuel to Norwegian chemical tanker owner Odfjell during 2026, with deliveries made by dedicated barges loading at the terminal.

By Gautamee Hazarika

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