Gas of pre-salt layer to be transformed into diesel
O Estado de S. Paulo
Petrobras is betting on a new technology that is new in Brazil to flow the natural gas of the pre-salt and transform it directly into diesel, without processing it at a refinery. The new technology, called "Gas To Liquid (GTL), will be installed in an offshore unit for the first time. According to the Gas and Energy Director of the State-owned company, Graça Foster, a pilot project to test the possibility will start within the coming weeks in Atalaia, in the Northeast of the country.
The alternative allows compressing a greater volume of gas in a smaller space, which facilitates its transport. "The technology allows transforming the gas into any liquid byproduct. In the case of Brazil, as we are in shortage in diesel, we will prioritize the processing of such byproduct", she said. She emphasized that the project is completely unrelated to the studies on the onboard liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit, a partnership announced last month with the British BG. "The flow of the pre-salt gas goes through all these and some other alternatives", she said.
Graça said that, by 2010, Petrobras expects to see a growth curve of the demand of natural gas, not only in the industries, but also in the thermal market. All that because of the expectations of growth of the GDP with the resumption of the economic activities after the crisis. "The economy is heated despite of the full reservoirs", emphasized the Executive. She affirmed there is already recovery in the consumption of gas in the second quarter of 2009. In the first week of December, according to the Executive, the non-thermal consumption reached the daily average of 33 million cubic meters, compared to the 29 million consumed in the same period in 2008.
"Since October, we have had peaks of 40 million cubic meters and the trend is that it increases more next year because of the economic growth. The consumption of gas should go along with the development of the GDP", she said.