Brazil's oil regulator ANP has provisionally shut down the private Refit refinery in Rio de Janeiro after identifying operational irregularities and suspected irregular fuel imports, the agency's director general Artur Watt said on Friday.
During the operation, authorities detained cargo from two ships carrying imported diesel oil destined for storage facilities in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, as well as several containers of imported inputs used in fuel formulation.
In a statement, Refit said it has a proven track record of legitimate operations in the market and will demonstrate that there is no justification for the suspension of its activities.
"Refit will spare no effort to reverse what it considers an arbitrary decision and continue its accelerated growth trajectory in the market, a development that has clearly unsettled its competitors," it said.
(Reporting by Fabrio Teixeira; Writing by Marta Nogueira and Isabel Teles; Editing by Chris Reese and Brendan O'Boyle)
