News
[Gas Production]
Plenty In Sight
Beginning in June or July the production of natural gas in Brazil will be strengthened with the coming on stream of Mexilhão, the project with the largest field of non-associated gas in Brazil — with a total volume of reserv [...]
[gas supply]
The Gas Pipeline That Survived The Jungle
Three years and four months under construction, last November Petrobras inaugurated the Urucu-Manaus gas pipeline, a 661-km colossus crossing the heart of the Amazon Forest that had to confront all of the access, weather and logistical d [...]
[thermal power]
The Great Thermal Leap Forward
The optimism regarding growth of the supply of natural gas in Brazil starting this year, coupled with the increase in demand for electricity over the upcoming decade, will lead to the expansion of the capacity of thermoelectric plants in [...]
[electric power]
Investment Post-Blackout
Three months after the blackout that hit 18 Brazilian states on November 10, 2009, no one is able to provide a simple answer about what caused the incident that knocked out a load of 28,800 MW, almost 40% of the total for Brazil. The res [...]
[BIOFUELS]
More Biodiesel In The Tank
B5, as the mandatory mixture of 5% biodiesel to fossil diesel is called, has arrived three years early – the initial estimate was 2013 – and has been fueling the motors of heavy vehicles in Brazil since January. The early ado [...]
[TECHNOLOGY]
Headed For Remote Control
With an eye on the growing demand for logistics solutions for pre-salt layer exploration and production, Petrobras and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) will sign a partnership agreement in February for the development of t [...]
[gas supply]
Adapting Plants To Natural Gas
The inauguration of the Urucu- Manaus gas pipeline already is causing a small revolution in the region as a result of the beginning of the conversion of the thermoelectric power plants in the isolated N [...]
[ RENEWABLE RESOURCES]
The Good Grease
With a potential to supply the additional demand needed to extend the biodiesel-diesel mixture from the present 5% (B5) to 8%, the use of spent cooking oil to produce the biofuel is beginning to make headway in Brazil. Although still tim [...]
[WIND POWER]
Negotiating Season
With the conclusion of the first wind energy auction in Brazil in December, the majority of the winning companies started 2010 by negotiating contracts with the manufacturers of wind generators. With the average negotiated price of R$ 14 [...]
[TECHNOLOGY]
Customized Steel For Pre-Salt Pipes
The Brazilian pre-salt region has opened up many prospects for the oil and gas industry, but also has led to the emergence of many challenges. One of them is the quality of the steel to be employed in the hostile new frontier environment [...]
[Gas Production]
Searching For Pre-Salt Oil
The work of setting up the Mexilhão production system will not interrupt exploration activities in the field’s neighboring regions. Well aware of the results from Tupi and other nearby discoveries, Petrobras will investigate [...]
[Gas Production]
Uruguá-Tambaú: First In Line
The neighboring project of Uruguá-Tambaú will begin operating before Mexilhão. Without the infrastructure for transporting oil and gas out of the field that Mexilhao will have, Petrobras decided to reverse the order [...]
[Gas Production]
Tupi, A Heavyweight Neighbor
Scheduled to come on stream in October, production from the Tupi pilot system in the pre-salt area discovered in the Santos Basin cluster also will be limited. Because the Tupi-Mexilhão gas pipeline will only be ready in the first [...]
[pre-salt]
New Test Areas
The year 2010 should play an important role in the development of the pre-salt projects in the Santos Basin. Petrobras and its partners (BG, Repsol YPF and Petrogal) will put long duration tests (LDTs) into operation in two areas – [...]
[supply]
A Tightening Up On Valves
The reoccurring number of manufacturing defects in valves led Petrobras to develop the first norm for valves in Brazil. The norm will be valid for the acquisition of equipment on the national market and from abroad. While the oil company [...]
[supply]
Growth Strategy
After four years without exporting to Latin America, the Pump Division of Weatherford in Brazil is once again taking aim at neighboring markets, the result of the construction of a new factory in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro. Althoug [...]
[Petrochemicals]
International Appetite
The Brazilian petrochemical market began the year on a high note. Through an operation that was assessed at costing R$ 700 million (US$ 378 million), Braskem, which is the leader of the Latin American thermoplastic resins market, acquire [...]
[thermal power]
Ethanol Powered Turbine
GE has just put the first turbine in the world designed to use ethanol as fuel into commercial operation. The project will reduce the emission of CO2 gas by 20% in comparison with fossil fuels and will be able to reduce the domestic ther [...]
[biomass]
Energy From Eucalyptus
An alternative for the generation of energy from biomass is emerging through the eucalyptus reforestation programs in Brazil. In all 100 million tons of residues, such as bark, leaves and branches could generate somewhere around 3,000 M [...]
[ETHANOL]
The Flex Fuel Challenge
Flex fuel cars - running on alcohol or gasoline mixed with alcohol, which began to be sold on the Brazilian market in 2003 are now facing their first serious test. The drop in the production of ethanol has not only led to an increase in [...]
[ETHANOL]
New Year, New Scenario
Specialists in the ethanol sector believe that the market will see better days in Brazil this year. Based on weather data, they believe that the next harvest should be better than the last. “The 2010/2011 sugarcane harvest c [...]
[ETHANOL]
End Of Cane Burning
The Brazilian sugar alcohol industry is gradually banning this ancient practice that is questioned both from an environmental and labor point of view. After an agreement made in 2007 between the São Paulo government and sugarcane [...]
