Vertex Formuladora plans to begin producing gasoline in Sorocaba, in the state of São Paulo, in early 2027. The company intends to use formulation, a process that blends hydrocarbon streams such as naphtha. Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) suspended the activity in July 2025 as authorities pursued suspected fuel-sector fraud cases.
Vertex says it sought approval before the suspension took effect. It notified the ANP that construction had begun in December 2022 and applied for an operating license in July 2024. In 2025, a federal court in Sorocaba ordered the agency to continue reviewing the application. In September, a judge on the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region gave the ANP five days to complete the process and ordered it to issue a provisional authorization.
The ANP says it has appealed the ruling through Brazil’s Attorney General’s Office. The agency says the authorization will be reconsidered if the courts change their position.
The regulator’s board approved a study in July recommending that formulation be discontinued. The report described the benefits to fuel supply as very limited and the fiscal costs as very high, drawing on cases investigated in operations including Carbono Oculto. Copape, the last formulator operating in Brazil, had its authorization revoked in 2024 after repeated operational violations and tax fraud.
Vertex chief executive Daniel Kurtinaitis says the 2025 suspension created legal uncertainty for a company that had already invested tens of millions of reais. He puts the project’s total investment at R$60 million, with plans developed between late 2021 and early 2022.
The plant, beside the Castelo Branco highway, has 13 tanks with a combined storage capacity of 35 million liters. Its authorization allows production of about 100 million liters a month, equivalent to roughly 0.05% of national output. Kurtinaitis says the company is hiring staff and commissioning equipment, and expects it could take up to 12 months after startup to reach full production.
Vertex’s longer-term plans include increasing storage capacity to 65 million liters and building a solar power plant. The company also aims to install a refining unit at the site in the future.
The project has drawn criticism from the fuel market. The Legal Fuel Institute (ICL) says formulation creates regulatory vulnerabilities that could facilitate tax fraud, hinder oversight and undermine fair competition. It also warned that individual court orders granting authorization during a regulatory review could increase legal uncertainty and create competitive imbalances. Kurtinaitis argues that refineries and petrochemical complexes already use the technique, which he describes as common in Brazil and internationally.
Sources: Folha Mercado.