Peter Howard Wertheim
OGJ Correspondent
RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr. 12 -- LNG Gemini—a JV of Praxair Inc. subsidiary SA White Martins and Brazil's state owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras)—are planning a $38 million LNG liquefaction plant in Paulinia, São Paulo state, Brazil.
White Martins will build and operate the 380,000 cu m/day plant—Brazil's first.
Brazil, with the second largest fleet of compressed natural gas-fueled vehicles in the world, will be ripe for five LNG plants within the next 7 years, White Martins said.
The LNG will be transported, via trucks and rail, to sites as far as 900 miles away. Construction is slated to begin in July, and the plant is expected to come on stream at yearend 2005.