Brazil's state-controlled energy company Petrobras will begin sales of biofuel for motor vehicles in Japan as early as this year, a report said Wednesday.

Petrobras, one of the world's largest biofuel producers, will supply gasoline blended with ethanol to independent gas stations, which number 10,000 in Japan, the Nikkei business daily said without citing sources.

The wholesale price is expected to be one to two yen (cents) per litre (0.26 gallons) lower than ordinary gasoline, it said.

Petrobras plans to mix gasoline and ethanol at a refinery plant in Japan's southernmost province of Okinawa operated by energy firm Nansei Sekiyu KK, which the Brazilian giant acquired in April, the newspaper reported.

There was no official confirmation of the report.

"Petrobras, as the parent company of Nansei Sekiyu, has been hoping to bring biofuel to Japan and other Asian countries and to market it," said Nansei Sekiyu spokesman Takeshi Katsuyama.

But studies are in an early stage and no details have been decided, he said.

Petrobras expects strong demand for biofuel in Japan amid concern over carbon dioxide emissions blamed for causing global warming, he added.

Brazil is the world's leading ethanol producer, with the bulk of its production going to the internal market as fuel or additive for gasoline.