Petrobras to invest US$1.84 billion in ethanol expansion projects

Petrobras, Brazil’s oil and gas giant, announced that it plans to invest US$1.84 billion to increase its ethanol production. Of the total, US$ 1.05 billion will be used for the upgrading of its three plants: Boa Vista, Guarani and Total. The expansion project will increase its ethanol production capacity from 1.0 billion liters to 1.7 billion liters by 2016. Petrobras said its capacity is expected to grow to more than 7 billion liters per year; to meet this goal, it will undertake other projects which will require an investment of US$800 million. According to its five-year business plan, the company will invest another US$300 million for its biodiesel projects by 2016. (June 26, 2012)