230,000bpd and 165,000bpd of new capacity scheduled to come online in 2013 and 2014.

Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil company, has announced that the first stage of its Comperj refining project will begin production in September 2014. The company had initially expected the refinery to come online in 2013.

“The new date stems from the fact that more time was needed to contract utilities,” says Petrobras in a statement.

According to a management discussion report dated February 15, the first phase of the Comperj refinery, which is under construction in Itaborai, will have a crude processing capacity of 165,000bpd, with a second phase scheduled for 2018, which will increase this to 330,000bpd. The report states that the refinery will supply the local market with diesel, LPG, jet fuel, naphtha, coke and sulphur.

Map showing the location of Comperj in red (middle)

“The first refining stage at Refinaria do Nordeste (RNEST) is slated to go into production in June 2013 and the second stage is slated for January 2014. These changes were due to above-average rainfall and [strikes] by contractors,” the statement says.

The management discussion report says the refinery will have a heavy crude processing capacity of 230,000bpd and will produce up to 162,000bpd of 10ppm diesel “in compliance with internationally accepted standards”. It will also produce LPG, naphtha, fuel oil and petroleum coke.

Petrobras is looking to invest 33.25 billion real in its downstream operations in 2012, up 24% on the 26.83 billion real spent in 2011. In 2011, Petrobras saw the operational start-up of 14 new units in its refineries: one diesel hydrotreatment unit, two coker naphtha hydrotreatment units, three cracked naphtha hydrodesulphurisation units, one catalytic reformer, six auxiliary facilities (including a hydrogen plant) and one cogeneration unit.