Brazil’s energy company Petrobras outlined plans to invest R$33 billion (U.S.$6.07 billion) in increasing refining and petrochemicals capacity at its Boaventura Energy Complex in the state of Rio de Janeiro, reported Brazil Energy Insight at the end of last week.
The Latin American country is the largest finished lubricant market in South America and second-biggest in the Western Hemisphere after the United States. It imports about 880,970 metric tons of base oil per year.
The country’s lone base oil producer, Petrobras, has capacity for 575,000 metric tons per year of API Group I, 78,000 t/y of Group II and 68,000 t/y of naphthenic base oil, totaling 821,000 t/y, according to data gathered by Lubes’n’Greases.
Part of the investment will be allocated to increasing production capacity of API Group II base oils by 12,000 barrels per day.
Petrobras is also considering repurposing existing infrastructure to create a 6,300-bpd waste oil rerefining unit at its Reduc facility, subject to approval by the state energy authority.
Additionally, the company plans to allocate up to R$2.4 billion for maintenance shutdowns at Reduc between 2025 and 2029. Significant maintenance is scheduled in 2026 for the refinery’s delayed coking and hydrotreatment units to support operational reliability and safety.