According to data from Transpetro, a subsidiary of Petrobras, the monthly average grew 36% in 2025 compared to 2024
Despite having a strong reduction since 2019, fuel theft records directly from ducts of, subsidiary of, rose again in 2025. The data are part of a survey released by the company, the largest duct operator in the country.
Until June 30, 2025, there were 17 cases, which represents an average of 2.83 per month. In 2024, it was 25 throughout the year, equivalent to the average of 2.08. This difference means an increase of 36% in the monthly average.
Transpetro calls thefts “clandestine derivation”Fuel, when criminals holes underground structures to divert liquid products from the pipes. In February, for example, an action in Rio de Janeiro pointed to contraventor Vinicius Dumond as leader of a gang.
Transpetro operates a logistics mesh of 8.5 thousand km of ducts across the country. For size, this distance is equivalent to a straight line from Porto Alegre on Christmas, round trip. In these tubes, petroleum and derivatives such as gasoline and diesel are transported. Oleodutos are the main ways to make oil to reach refineries.
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.
Company figures show that the case record was in 2018, with 261 occurrences identified. For the next 2 years, the cases were about 200, plummeting to 102 in 2021. Transpetro did not disclose the amount of damage caused by theft.
Check out the evolution year by year:
- 2018: 261 cases;
- 2019: 203 cases;
- 2020: 202 cases;
- 2021: 102 cases;
- 2022: 58 cases;
- 2023: 58 cases;
- 2024: 25 cases;
- 2025: 17 cases, until June.
Prevention and Security
The company reports that it invests R $ 100 million annually to expand safety in the fuel duct range.
According to Transpetro duct protection manager, Júlio Barreto, even with the case reduction trajectory in recent years, thefts are still a concern, “because it is enough for a clandestine derivation to bring damage to the environment or to 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.
In defending the integrity of duct systems, Transpetro emphasizes that this means of fuel transport avoids 99.5% of greenhouse gas emissions when compared to road transport. A single day of duct transport is equivalent to removing more than 20,000 tank trucks from the highways.
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.
CRIMINAL PROFILE
The profile of criminals acting in this field requires, according to sources linked to the theme, a certain degree of specialization. Thieves need to be aware of piping holes and extract and transport fuels. Crime fighting operations have already caught gangs making use of a tanker truck valued at R $ 300 thousand.
Criminals prefer to act in remote areas, far from large centers and populous neighborhoods, as well as choose the night time as a way to make the theft go unnoticed. Another means of hiding clandestine derivation is to subtract reduced volumes.
In some cases, when theft is done at night, criminals make a kind of camouflage in the perforated duct so that the crime is not perceived the next day. There are sophisticated gangs to rent properties near the place where underground ducts pass and dig tunnels to the structure.
According to Transpetro, company teams specialize to detect the minimum signs of irregularity. Drones and AI tools (artificial intelligence) are also employed in prevention and combat.
With information from
