Tankers with Russian gasoline said circulating off Brazil's Itaqui port

Two, possibly three tankers, likely together carrying at least 20,000 cu m (roughly 125,000 barrels) of Russian gasoline, market sources say, have been circulating offshore the northeastern Brazilian port of Itaqui for more than 10 days, S&P Global Commodities at Sea data showed Dec. 17.

According to market participants, the ships were carrying the gasoline to Brazil's top fuel distributor, Vibra. A company spokesperson declined comment to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

According to one of the sources, a terminal at Itaqui was contracted to receive up to 40,000 cu m of gasoline. CAS data, meanwhile, indicates at least one of the ships was moored near the terminal Dec. 6.

Sources have said one of the tankers held off-spec cargo and another was inoperable. One distributor source said the inoperable ship had propeller damage, but had already discharged gasoline at Itaqui and was on its way to Suape, further south. However, live data from CAS showed the destination of all the ships was still reported as Itaqui as of Dec. 17.

CAS data does not show the ships as damaged or inoperable as of Dec. 17, but indicates one of them is in ballast. The data also indicates the ships did carry Russian gasoline before arriving at Itaqui.

Demurrage has been cited in recent weeks as a growing problem at Itaqui. At least one producer source bringing imports into Brazil said its cargoes were delayed by five days or more.

Vibra currently holds 22.42% of the Brazilian distribution market, followed by Ipiranga (17.02%) and Raízen (16.27%), according to retail sales data by the country's ANP oil, gas and biofuels agency.

A total of 15.5 million barrels (2.46 million cu m) of imported gasoline were discharged in Brazil so far this year, according to CAS data. Of those, 3.2 million barrels (509,000 cu m) arrived through Itaqui.