Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras informed that the biodiesel production plants of Candeias (state of Bahia) and Quixadá (state of Ceará) have surpassed their production goal forecasts for 2008.
According to the company, the two units – operated by Petrobras Biofuel – closed the year of 2008 with a combined total output of 8.8 million litres of biodiesel, exceeding the 8 million litres sold in the two biodiesel auctions held by the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP) in the second half of next year.
The two plants entered into operation in October 2008, marking the beginning of Petrobras’ activities in commercial biodiesel production.
“Within three months, Candeias and Quixadá delivered 4.4 million litres of biodiesel each. The Plant of Candeias – the first to be inaugurated, on July 29, 2008 – has already begun to deliver, before the deadline, the biodiesel sold at the 12th auction, and forecasted to take place in the first quarter of 2009,” informs Petrobras.
The company also informs that its third biodiesel production plant is already in the process of becoming operational, and should start producing this month, in the municipality of Montes Claros (state of Minas Gerais).
The three plants boast an annual combined production capacity of 170 million litres of biodiesel.
The first batch of commercial biodiesel sold at the ANP auction was delivered by Petrobras on October 3, 2008. The shipment, totalling 44,780 litres of biodiesel, left the Plant of Candeias, in the state of Bahia.
The Plant of Candeias has an annual production capacity of 57 million litres of biodiesel.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
