Brazil's Petrobras to Begin Expansions at Abreu e Lima Refinery

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) announced last week week the expansion of Train 1, the construction of Train 2, and the installation of a SNOX unit (which removes sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates from flue gases) at the 115,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Abreu e Lima Refinery (RNEST).

Work to expand Train 1 will start this year and be finished by the first quarter of 2025, according to the company. With the enhancements, Petrobras expects to increase Train 1's capacity, improve the flow of light crudes, and increase the processing capacity of pre-salt oil.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian company already has begun the contract process for constructing Train 2 at RNEST. Work on Train 2 is expected to start in the second half of this year, with a finalization date set in 2028, according to Petrobras.

With the completion of the projects, the refinery will have a processing capacity of 260,000 BBL/d by 2028.

The company also will install a SNOX unit at the refinery, transforming sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) into a new product. Construction of the unit has already started, and it is expected to go online later this year.

With the enhancements at the RNEST refinery, Petrobras expects to increase the production of low-sulfur Diesel S10 by almost 82,000 BBL/d.

"Considering all the planned adaptation projects and the improvement of the industrial park and the supply and logistics chain, Petrobras estimates an increase in diesel production of around 40% in the coming years," said Petrobras President Jean Paul Prates.

As part of the company's strategic plan, Petrobras intends to invest US$17 billion during the next five years to improve the refining, transport, production and commercialization of diesel across the country with the objective of producing more low-carbon products.

Industrial Info is tracking four RNEST (Abreu e Lima Refinery) projects, worth US$1 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Petroleum Refining Project and Plant databases can click here for a list of project reports and click here for the related plant profile.

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