Ipiranga Refinery in Brazil Reduces Processing Capacity

CORDOBA, ARGENTINA--July 9, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In the first weekend of July, the Ipiranga refinery in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, began to decrease the refinery's processing capacity. The decision was made by the refinery's directors, who cited the high price of crude oil costs they have been facing for a while. In Brazil, the price of derivate products, such as diesel, naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and fuel oil, are not keeping pace with the increasing price of crude oil, making it unprofitable for the Ipiranga refinery to commercialize derivate products. The refinery will only be able to sell petrochemical naphtha. Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), Ultra Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:UPL) (Houston, Texas) and Braskem S.A. (Camacari, Brazil) purchased Ipiranga assets in March 2007 and are in the process of deciding who will be in charge of the refinery.