Sao Paulo [Brazil], December 3 : Petrobras President Magda Chambriard announced on Tuesday that Brazil intends to expand its national oil-refining capacity to around 400,000 barrels per day by the year 2030. She shared this update during an event at the Abreu e Lima Refinery (Rnest) in Ipojuca, located in the state of Pernambuco, where new investment plans for the refinery were formally presented, as reported by Brasil 247.
Emphasizing the importance of the facility, Chambriard described Rnest as the most technologically advanced refinery within Petrobras' entire network. She added that the upcoming expansion will also depend on additional investments in surrounding port and railway infrastructure to support enhanced operations. With these improvements, Rnest is expected to exceed 200,000 barrels per day in refined output.
Earlier in the day, Brazil's presidential office confirmed that Petrobras will allocate roughly R$ 12 billion toward completing Train 2 of the refinery and carrying out essential maintenance on Train 1. These upgrades together are projected to increase Rnest's processing capability by 130,000 barrels per day, enabling the refinery to reach a total of 260,000 barrels per day by 2029.
According to Brasil 247, Rnest's development plan also includes several sustainability measures, among them the installation of a photovoltaic power plant designed to lower the facility's reliance on natural gas and reduce its overall carbon footprint.
Brazil's Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, noted that once the improvements are implemented, the Abreu e Lima refinery is set to become the second most important refinery in Brazil, ranking just behind the Paulinia Refinery (Replan) located in São Paulo state.
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