Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) said construction projects at its Abreu e Lima oil refinery at the port of Suape, near Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state, have reached just over 83% completion.
The first phase of construction is expected to by November 2014, according to a Dec. 17 release from Petrobras.
Upon completion and commissioning of the second phase of construction, which is scheduled for May 2015, the Abreu e Lima refinery will process 230,000 b/d, Petrobras said.
Construction on the refinery, in which Petrobras was to hold a 60% stake alongside Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), who was to hold the remaining 40% (OGJ Online, Oct. 8, 2009), began in 2007 but faced repeated delays in order to negotiate better prices for some of the refinery’s systems (OGJ Online, Apr. 16, 2010; Sept. 5, 2007).
Petrobras took full control of the project in late October 2013 following a series of delays by PDVSA to fund its share of the project (OGJ Online, July 29, 2011).