Petrobras gives green light to fuels, lubricants plant at GasLub hub

The board of Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras has approved the engineering project for the implementation of a fuel and lubricant plant at the GasLub hub in Itaboraí, Rio de Janeiro state.

"The company's decision is in line with the strategy of maintaining its operations with assets focused on proximity to oil and gas supply and the consumer market, in addition to increasing fuel production, contributing significantly to the reduction of imports of these products," the company said in a statement.

The next stage will be the start of the development phase of the initiative, in which the basic engineering studies will be carried out to support the project planning. Following the company's approval of the project governance, completion of the planning phase will underpin the final investment decision and the contracting process for the start of works.

Implementation of the GasLub lubricant and fuel plant is part of Petrobras' strategy to expand and adapt its refining park, with higher value-added and better quality products to serve the market. 

According to Petrobras, the set of units will have capacity to produce approximately 12,000b/d of group II lubricating oils, in addition to 75,000b/d of diesel S-10 and 20,000b/d of aviation kerosene (QAV-1), with very low sulfur content.