Petrobras and Galp introduce biofuels partnership in Lisbon

Source: Petrobras Agency

Date: 05/20/2010 09:08

Petrobras and Galp Energia will sign a cooperation agreement for a biofuels production project in Portugal, Wednesday (05/19), in Lisbon. The companies will build a biodiesel production plant at Galp's Sines refinery, which will process the feedstock produced in Brazil. The agreement is an extension of the partnership that has already been announced for the production of palm oil in Brazil.

"The goal is to produce 260 million tons of biodiesel. The feedstock will be the palm oil produced in the state of Pará," said Petrobras Biocombustível CEO Miguel Rossetto, during a press conference held Tuesday (05/18), in Lisbon.

The CEO of Galp, Manuel Ferreira de Oliveira, who also attended the press conference, said it a "privilege" to build another partnership with Petrobras, a company with which the Portuguese outfit is already associated in exploration and production blocks in Brazil.

To Oliveira, the project will help prepare Portugal for the technological challenges involved in complying with the legislation that determines the mandatory use of biofuels. "By this, we are contributing to more sustainable mobility in environmental terms," said Manuel Ferreira de Oliveira.
In addition to the two companies' CEOs, the executive manager of Galp, Fernando Gomes; the Executive Manager of Petrobras for America, Africa and Eurasia, Fernando Cunha; and the General Director of Petrobras Portugal, Jose Fernando de Freitas, also attended the news conference.

Parity

The project will be implemented via a parity joint venture yet to be formally constituted. According to Rossetto, production is expected to start in Portugal in 2015.

Palm will be planted in degraded areas in Pará, allowing for the recovery, the protection of the soil, and for the ecological balance of these regions. "We are confident about the environmental quality of the project, as these are values that are common to the assets of Galp and Petrobras," Rossetto said.