Trafigura Group Pte Ltd (“Trafigura” or the “Group”), one of the world’s leading independent commodity trading companies, and Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in the Americas and a world leader in biopolymers production, have collaborated on what is believed to be the first cargo of carbon offset naphtha¹.  The cargo was shipped last week from Corpus Christi, Texas and will be delivered by Trafigura to Braskem’s facility via the Port of Aratu in Bahia, Brazil.

The carbon dioxide equivalent emissions associated with the extraction and pipeline transportation of crude oil, its processing to produce naphtha and waterborne transportation of the 325,000-barrel carbon offset cargo will be calculated on data collected by Trafigura. Emissions will be offset through a combination of efficiency measures which reduce emissions, and surrender of high-quality carbon offsets.

Trafigura has worked with the vessel owner to minimise actual emissions associated with transporting the cargo including by chartering the most energy efficient vessel available at the time of fixing and by agreeing with the ship owner that a speed reduction is made. High-quality carbon offsets have been sourced from nature-based projects located in Indonesia that are independently verified by the Verified Carbon Standard.

“Naphtha is a vital component for the plastics industry and this carbon offset cargo, the first of its kind, demonstrates the potential to reduce upstream supply chain emissions for non-combustible plastics. We believe this could be an important additional step in the industry’s efforts to minimise emissions,” said Dmitri Croitor, Global Head of Naphtha and Condensates, Trafigura.

“Braskem is committed with a carbon neutral circular economy strategy and this pilot is a step forward in this direction, contributing to offset part of the value chain emissions,” said Hardi Schuck, Feedstocks, Chemicals and Global Chartering Director at Braskem. “Today’s announcement fits with our efforts to continue to advance in innovation and to develop low carbon solutions.”