Brazil registered zero direct oil exports to Israel in 2025 in victory for boycott campaign

Brazil registered zero direct oil exports to Israel in 2025, with campaigners claiming it as a victory for the boycott campaign.

According to the 2026 Statistical Yearbook of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) released at the end of June, Brazil did not export oil directly to Israel in 2025.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement said the move was a result of pressure applied on the Brazilian government and corporations.

"We welcome the end of direct exports as a concrete step to reduce complicity, and as a sign that grassroots and trade union pressure can bring Brazil to recognize its international obligations," they wrote on social media.

However, they noticed that while "the direct route" was closed, "the back door isn't."

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

"One step at a time - our pressure continues," they said.

According to clean energy campaign group Oil Change International, until mid-2024 Brazil was still the fifth most important provider of crude oil to Israel, supplying 9 percent of the country's crude imports.

In February 2024, Israel declared Brazilian President Lula “persona non grata”, after he accused it of genocide and compared its actions to the Nazi extermination of Jews.

But in 2024, amid such tensions, Brazil quietly became the fourth largest exporter of crude oil to Israel, accounting for nine percent of its imports, according to a report by Oil Change International.

Petrobras, Brazil’s state-owned petroleum giant, has repeatedly insisted that it has not directly delivered crude shipments to Israel, saying it has only sold to foreign refineries and that it has no control over the final destination of the resulting refined products.

In May 2025, two of Brazil’s largest oil worker federations wrote to the government, citing Lula’s increasing criticism of Israel and urging an embargo. They received no reply.

In July 2025, Brasilia announced it was formally backing South Africa in its genocide case against Israel. It has also recalled its ambassador to Israel.

"If Brazilian oil reaches Israel through re-exports by third countries, Brazil's international responsibility stands," wrote the BDS Movement.

"Under international law, a state's responsibility is determined by its knowledge and its material contribution to the supply, not by the route the shipment takes."

middleeasteye.net