December 24,2009
RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian state-controlled energy giant Petrobras on Wednesday announced a deal with state-owned PetroChina to study possible projects to jointly produce sugar-based ethanol in Brazil and export it to China.
The six-month memorandum of understanding calls on both companies to “evaluate the technical and economic viability of ethanol production projects in Brazil and projects to export ethanol to China,” a statement from the Brazilian company read.
The projects would be carried out jointly by Petrobras’ biofuels subsidiary, Petrobras Biocombustivel, and PetroChina International Company Ltd.
According to Petrobras, China has adopted a policy of blending ethanol with gasoline to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but cannot supply the domestic market with local production alone.
“China intends not only to guarantee supplies of ethanol but also to invest in its own production of the product in Brazil,” the statement read.
“In that regard, PetroChina considers Petrobras as its natural partner for such ventures due to the excellent trade relationship between the two companies and the possibility of synergies.”
Despite finding massive offshore deposits of oil and natural gas over the past two years – discoveries that could transform Brazil into a major crude exporter – Petrobras also plans to become one of the world’s largest ethanol producers.
The majority of privately owned cars in Brazil are “flex-fuel” vehicles, meaning they can run on ethanol, gasoline or any combination of the two.
The country has invested in sugarcane-based ethanol production for several decades and is currently the world’s largest producer and exporter of that alternative fuel. EFE
Source: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=349352&CategoryId=13280
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