Petrobras Acquires Remaining 30% of Brazil's Alberto Pasqualini Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) recently acquired the remaining 30% of the 189,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Alberto Pasqualini Refinery (Refap Refinery) from Repsol YPF SA (NYSE:REP) (Madrid, Spain).

Located in the city of Canoas in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the Refap Refinery is the fifth-largest refinery in Brazil. The refinery began operating in1968 and produces a wide range of products, including gas oil, naphtha, petrochemicals, aviation kerosene, coke and liquefied petroleum gas, most of which are distributed in southern Brazil and other South American countries.

On December 14, 2010, Petrobras signed an $850 million contract to acquire the remaining 30% of the refinery that Petrobras sold to Repsol YPF in 2001. The contract includes the assumption of $500 million in debt owed by the refinery.

With this transaction, Petrobras recovers absolute control over the refinery, "achieving synergies that will allow it great benefits and absolutely fabulous profits," according to company sources.

In 2006, a 7,000-cubic-meter-per-day RCC unit; a 50-ton-per-day sulfur recovery unit (Claus Technology) and tail gas treating unit; a 4,000-cubic-meter-per-day hydrotreater; and a 4,000-cubic-meter-per-day delayed coker were added as part of refinery expansion program.

Currently, Petrobras is performing studies regarding the addition of a 37,740-BBL/d diesel hydrotreater unit and is performing detailed engineering for a hydrogen unit addition to support the proposed diesel hydrotreater. The hydrogen unit is scheduled to be built in 2011, while construction of the diesel hydrotreater will kick off once the hydrogen unit is complete, in 2013.

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