Peter Howard Wertheim
OGJ correspondent
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 4 -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has shipped 25,000 cu m of fuel ethanol produced from sugar cane to Venezuela's Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) under a new long-term contract.
The contract initially involves shipment of about 25,000 cu m/month.
PDVSA is adding ethanol to gasoline in the eastern part of the country. Venezuela recently passed a law phasing out the use of tetraethyl lead to boost gasoline octane.
The Venezuelan government intends to encourage the expansion of sugar cane plantations and the production of fuel ethanol.
Brazil has used fuel ethanol for many years. Last year, about 70,000 Brazilian farmers produced 385 million tons of sugar cane, and the country's refiners made 4 billion gal of alcohol fuel.
According to the mines and energy ministry, Brazil has around 1 million vehicles running on ethanol blended with gasoline and vehicles that run just on alcohol. This is the second largest such fleet in the world after Argentina's.
