Petrobras plans second ethanol pipeline in Brazil

March 24, 2008
Brazil's state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it would sign a cooperation agreement with two Brazilian states for a second ethanol-only pipeline.

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, Mar. 24 -- Brazil's state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it would sign a cooperation agreement with two Brazilian states for a second ethanol-only pipeline.

Petrobras and the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana plan to develop viability studies for the pipeline, which would link Campo Grande in western Brazil to the port of Paranagua in southern Brazil.

The announcements coincide with other reports concerning the development of the ethanol industry in Brazil.

Petrobras and Japan's Mitsui last week announced the formation of Participacoes Nippo Brasileira em Complexos Bioenergeticos SA, a 50:50 joint venture that will provide ethanol for export to Japan (OGJ Online, Mar. 19, 2008).

Earlier, Petrobras, Mitsui, and Brazilian builder Camargo Correa SA announced plans to form a joint venture to build the world's first ethanol-only pipeline.

That pipeline, with a capacity to transport 12 million cu m/year of ethanol, will ship ethanol from sugarcane-growing areas in western Brazil to the Atlantic coast in Sao Paulo state (OGJ Online, Feb. 15, 2008).

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].