Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil multinational, informed that it is going to start distributing diesel with 50 ppm (particles per million) of sulphur to makers of diesel-powered vehicles. The product is going to be tested by the vehicle makers.
In a press statement, the company informed that the fuel complies with the demands by Brazil's National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP) requiring 50-ppm diesel for engine development testing.
The press statement also adds that starting in June, the company should start supplying reference diesel for consumption and emission testing.
The initiative is aimed at allowing carmakers to use the fuel in the development of engines for compliancy with phase P-6 of the Program for Control of Air Pollution by Automotive Vehicles – Proconve.
Petrobras has been participating in Proconve since the beginning, in 1986 and, in compliancy with the legal demands established, has gradually been reducing the percentage of sulphur in diesel traded in the country.
In the early 1990s, the level of sulphur in the diesel traded in the country was 13,000 ppm. Nowadays the fuel supplied by the company for use in metropolitan areas has 500 ppm of sulphur.
In a recent interview by the Supply and Refining director at Petrobras, Paulo Roberto Costa, the executive said that by 2009 Petrobras should already be supplying diesel with 50 ppm of sulphur for use in heavy vehicles moving around Brazil.
New Brazil Refinery
The president of Petrobras, José Sergio Gabrielli, has revealed that the state-owned oil company is considering building another refinery in the country, so as to capitalize on the large volumes of oil recently discovered in the pre-salt layer. The aim is to export derivatives instead of crude oil, as the refined product has greater added value.
Petrobras already has two refineries under construction: one in the Petrochemical Hub of Rio de Janeiro (SE Brazil) and the Abreu Lima Refinery, in the state of Pernambuco (NE), in partnership with state-owned oil company PDVSA, from Venezuela. Now, the company is looking at building the Premium Refinery (NE).
"We are conducting studies on the construction of two more refineries, in addition to the two already being built. The idea is for this fourth refinery to be larger than the others. Studies are still being carried out, therefore we cannot provide figures with regard to investment or the volume of oil to be processed," he claimed.
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