By Brazil Stock Guide – Petrobras (PETR4.SA, PBR) has raised operational efficiency across its refining system, expanding output of cleaner fuels and reinforcing Brazil’s energy supply as it advances projects tied to biofuels, natural gas and renewable power.
Between 2023 and 2025, the company’s refineries operated at an average total utilization rate of 92%, up from 88% in 2022, according to company data. The higher run rates supported a 3% increase in average production of oil products over the period and a more than 20% expansion in low-sulfur diesel S-10 capacity, adding 138,000 barrels a day.
The additional diesel volumes were enabled by projects at key refineries including Reduc, Replan, Revap and Rnest, improving operational flexibility and reducing reliance on imports while lowering sulfur-related air pollution.
“The projects implemented in recent years have consistently increased the capacity and operational flexibility of our refining park,” said William França, Petrobras’ director of industrial processes. “The expansions are the result of efficiency gains, process modernization and applied engineering, always with a focus on safety and operational reliability.”
Efficiency gains translated into record production levels. From 2023 to 2025, average diesel output rose 3.1% while gasoline production climbed 9.3%, reaching historical averages of 452,000 barrels a day of diesel S-10 and 419,000 barrels a day of gasoline. Capacity expansions added about 48,000 barrels a day of crude processing, led by Rnest and RPBC.
Further increases are planned for 2026, when projects at Replan and Revap are expected to add 44,000 barrels a day. Petrobras is also advancing the second processing train at Rnest, which could lift capacity by as much as 130,000 barrels a day.
Biofuels are another pillar of the strategy. Petrobras’ refineries are already adapted to produce renewable diesel, with current capacity of about 74,000 cubic meters a month. The company markets diesel R5 and has tested higher renewable blends, including diesel R10 used to fuel buses and power generators during COP30, held in Brazil in 2025.
In aviation, Petrobras has adapted its refineries to produce sustainable aviation fuel via co-processing routes. From 2027, airlines operating in Brazil will be able to use the fuel under the country’s “Fuel of the Future” law and the mandatory phase of Corsia, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s emissions-reduction program.
Petrobras is also moving ahead with a tender to build its first dedicated plant for 100% renewable fuels at the Presidente Bernardes refinery in Cubatão, with capacity of 15,000 barrels a day. By the end of the first quarter, the company is set to begin operating the Riograndense refinery as Brazil’s first unit running entirely on renewable feedstock, with construction of an additional renewable fuels plant there scheduled to start in 2026.
In natural gas, Petrobras expanded processing capacity by about 21 million cubic meters a day following the start-up of new infrastructure linked to the Rota 3 project and the Boaventura Energy Complex, boosting supply to industrial customers and thermal power plants.
The company is also increasing renewable power generation within its refining system. Petrobras has brought online its first solar plant at the Regap refinery, with capacity of 10 megawatts, and plans to add new facilities at Rnest and Replan by year-end, lifting total solar capacity to 42 megawatts and cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
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