Petrobras Restarts Work on GasLub Cluster Project

---

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) said this month that it had signed a contract with Toyo Setal Empreendimentos Ltda to complete the construction of a natural gas processing unit (NGPU) at the Itaborai GasLub Cluster. Construction was halted in June 2022.

The Gaslub Cluster is located in Itaborai, Rio de Janeiro. It is part of the Integrated Route 3 project, which will bring online an NGPU with the capacity to process 21 million cubic meters of natural gas a day. This project will be supplied with pre-salt natural gas from the Santos Basin, and the gas will be transported through the Route 3 gas pipeline. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Production project and plant databases can click here for the NGPU project report and click here for the plant profile.

The Route 3 pipeline is a midstream infrastructure that originates in the Tupi offshore field and transports natural gas from the Santos Basin to the GasLub Cluster project to be processed, according to a document by Brazil's national agency of petroleum, natural gas, and biofuels (ANP).

The GasLub Cluster is a component in Petrobras' 2023-2027 business plan. With the continuation of the NGPU construction, the company is expecting to start operations at the GasLub Cluster next year.

Meanwhile, the company reported in its statement that some parts of the NGPU are almost ready to start functioning, "other units required to start these operations, such as the auxiliary units located at the GasLub Cluster, and the subsea and onshore pipelines, have already completed their scope, and are in the final commissioning or pre-operation phase."

This new project aims to increase the supply of natural gas to the Brazilian market to reduce dependency on imports. In recent weeks, Brazilian energy officials have highlighted the importance of energy security in order to reduce dependence on imports.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's new administration is prioritizing local production in the downstream sector by maintaining Petrobras' ownership of refineries and proposing the downstream sector's enhancement and/or expansion.

In January, Brazil produced slightly more than 147 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, one of the highest volumes in recent years. Petrobras-operated assets produced about 94% of the country's natural gas, showing the Brazilian company's dominance in the nation's energy sector.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).