Delta Tankers finds no spill evidence: Update

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The owner of the suspected culprit of a major late-July oil spill off the Brazilian coast said that its internal investigation found no evidence that the spill came from its tanker.

"There is no proof of the vessel having stopped, conducted any kind of ship-to-ship (STS) operation, oil leaked/spilled, slowed down or veered off course" on its passage from Venezuela to Malacca, Malaysia, Greece-based Delta Tankers said over the weekend.

Delta Tankers said it searched material from the ship's cameras and sensors and will share this material with Brazilian authorities, should they contact the company.

The firm denied on 2 November that it has been contacted by Brazilian authorities. Brazilian police had said it carried out a search at the Rio de Janeiro office of the owner of the targeted tanker. The police searches were later determined to have focused on the Rio offices of Lachmann Shipping Agency and Witt O'Brien's.

Lachmann said it was not the focus of the police investigation of the spill, but was only required to cooperate with investigators. "The agency is at the disposal of the authorities for any further information." Witt O'Brien's said Delta is not a client in Brazil.

In a televised broadcast yesterday, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said all facts pointed to Delta Tankers' involvement in the spill that has reached more than 230 points along Brazil's northeastern coast and is now headed toward a coral reef. He warned the "worst is yet to come" in terms of the environmental impact.

In separate remarks today, Brazil's defense minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva described the spill as an unprecedented disaster. "This type of oil is not noticeable by radar, by satellite. We don't know how much is yet to come," he said. Brazilian authorities have previously identified the crude as extra-heavy grade from Venezuela. Caracas has denied any responsibility.

Brazilian police on 1 November pointed to the Suezmax Bouboulina, one of Delta Tankers' 30 crude vessels, as the source of the oil spill that the chief executive of Brazil-state controlled Petrobras has called the biggest environmental "attack" the country has ever experienced.

Two sources in Venezuela, one from state-owned PdV and the other from the oil union, say the tanker loaded 16°API Merey blend in mid-July on behalf of Rosneft, the Russian company that has emerged as the main lifter of Venezuelan crude since the US imposed oil sanctions on Caracas in late January. Shipping data shared with Argus confirms that the crude was lifted on behalf of Rosneft.

The Bouboulina is steaming east under the horn of Africa after loading a cargo in Nigeria, according to vessel tracking.

The spill has cast a shadow over what was expected to be a celebratory week for Brazil's oil industry. Brazil will offer up to 15bn bl of oil equivalent of excess reserves in the Santos basin cluster known as the Transfer of Rights (TOR) on 6 November and five pre-salt blocks in the Campos and Santos basins on 7 November. The government has said the spill will not interfere with the offers, but the high-profile nature of the incident has consumed much of the attention surrounding the industry.

Bolsonaro has hinted that the spill was intended to disrupt the TOR auction.