Transpetro, Petrobras’ logistics subsidiary, said it invests R $ 100 million annually to expand safety and avoid theft in fuel ducts. This Saturday (16), the company will make a national mobilization to make the population aware of safety in duct ranges.
The company manages a logistics network of 8.5 thousand kilometers of ducts throughout Brazil. This extension is comparable to a straight line from Porto Alegre on Christmas, round trip. The ducts carry oil and derivatives, such as gasoline and diesel, being the oils the main route to bring oil to refineries.
Figures released by the company reveal that, In the first half of this year, there were 17 occurrences of “clandestine derivation”, as the company calls the theft. Throughout the year 2024 were 25.
Clandestine derivation happens when criminals find ways to remove fuels from underground pipes. In February, for example, An action in Rio de Janeiro He pointed to contraventer Vinícius Dumond as leader of one of these gangs.
The current level of occurrences brings a reduction in relation to the peak of cases, registered in 2018, with 261 occurrences. For the next two years, notifications were about 200, falling to 102 by 2021.
| Check out the evolution year by year: | |
| 2018 | 261 |
| 2019 | 203 |
| 2020 | 202 |
| 2021 | 102 |
| 2022 | 58 |
| 2023 | 28 |
| 2024 | 25 |
| 2025 | 17 (until June) |
In addition to financial loss, theft in ducts can cause other negative effects such as shortcoming regions, environmental damage and risk to the safety of involved and neighboring communities. Transpetro does not disclose the amount of damage caused by clandestine derivations.
Prevention and Security
According to Transpetro duct protection manager, Júlio Barreto, even with the case reduction trajectory in recent years, thefts are still a concern, “because a clandestine derivation is enough to bring damage to the environment or people.”
Barreto explained to Brazil agency that the most intense reduction observed at the beginning of the decade is due to the implementation of the duct protection center, which operated at the headquarters of the subsidiary, in Rio de Janeiro.
“An area dedicated to exclusive monitoring, aiming at third party actions in duct ranges that works uninterruptedly 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The executive manager detailed that the company adopts an integrated strategy to make the most of the thefts it combines:
- technologies for rapid remote detection of leaks
- Specialized inspection teams
- strategic partnerships with public (state and federal) ministries and security agencies
- Awareness effort with communities neighboring the ducts, about the importance of communicating to the state overdue or distrust of criminal action
By protecting the integrity of the ducts, Transpetro points out that this means of transport avoids 99.5% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to road transport. A single day of duct transport is equivalent to removing more than 20,000 tank trucks from the highways.
Dial 168
The company leaves at the disposal of any citizen, 24 hours a day, free and with anonymity guaranteed Dial 168, telephone service for complaints and suspicions. The number is a reference to August 16 (16/8), the day chosen by Transpetro for a series of awareness activities in various locations.
The actions will take place in Alagoas, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo and Sergipe.
Services will be offered to the population, such as issuing identity portfolios, vaccine application, pressure and glucose measurement, oral health services, as well as cultural presentations.
Legislation
Transpetro argues that the crime of clandestine adulteration is better typified and co -billed by the legislation. Four bills (PL) are processed in Congress. PL 8.455/2017 and PL 1,482/2019 typify the crime; PL 131/2021 turns into a heinous crime (extremely severe); and PL 828/2022 increases penalties provided for in the Penal Code.
Barreto points out that PL 8.455 “aims at hardening the penalty for those who commit this offense, which is currently comparable to the crime of common theft”.
“Transpetro carefully follows the PLS related to the theme and is available to contribute technically to the debate,” he says.
Changed matter for information adjustment. Although the number of cases of fuel theft in the first six months of 2025 is close to total thefts recorded in 2024, it is not yet possible to state that this year’s total data will be higher than the total data of the previous year.
