A spokesman for Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) said the Landulpho Alves refinery in the Brazilian state of Bahia has returned to producing close to full capacity after a blaze crippled production Sept. 6. Repairs were completed Sept. 15 on Unit 32, and slowly the naphtha, diesel, kerosine, and fuel oil unit has returned to full capacity. The spokesman declined to say how much Petrobras spent to repair the unit, which is the refinery's largest. Normally, Unit 32 produces about 28,000 cubic meters per day of naphtha, diesel, kerosene, and fuel oil, or about 60-65% of the total average daily capacity at Landulpho Alves.
TotalFinaElf SA said it will make a new ultra-low sulfur gasoline available to motorists at the beginning of 2001. It will contain 0.001% sulfur, which the French company says is 15 times less than gasoline currently sold on the market. The gasoline is intended for use in passenger cars with lean-burn direct-injection engines. It will be made available at about 100 Total and Elf stations in principal urban areas, then progressively made available across Europe, said TotalFinaElf.
The US Export-Import Bank and SACE, the export credit agency of Italy, have awarded Taylor-DeJongh Inc., Washington, DC, a joint contract to provide financial advice on Rio Polimeris SA of Brazil's proposed integrated ethylene and polyethylene complex to be located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said Taylor-DeJongh. The advisory firm said the facility would be the first natural gas feedstock ethylene cracker in the country with 520,000 tons/year design capacity. It will be located in the Duque de Caxias industrial area next to Petroleos Brasileiro SA (Petrobras)'s Duque de Caxias refinery. Participants in the $1 billion project are Unipar, Suzano SA, and Petrobras.
