Brazil's Petrobras signs agreement to produce synthetic oil
english.people.com.cn
Brazil's state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement with Britain's Compact GTL on a pilot-plant to produce synthetic oil from associated natural gas.
The plant was designed to be installed on a floating platform that produces, processes, stores, and offloads oil.
The agreement is estimated at 10.6 million U.S. dollars and is valid for three years. It involves all productive stages, ranging from the elaboration of the pilot-plant, which will produce 20 barrels a day, to the construction of an onshore test area for Petrobras.
The agreement also includes the evaluation of the plant's performance, as well as the details of the conceptual project for an industrial unit capable of producing 1,500 barrels per day.
In the GTL (gas-to-liquids) process, natural gas is chemically transformed into synthetic oil. An extremely compact technology will be an innovation for the process, according to the Brazilian company.
Its reduced size will allow the installation of GTL units on production platforms, enabling it to be applied for the natural gas produced in offshore fields, where it is not possible to re-inject it in reservoirs or to build pipelines for exports. This means that the natural gas from the platforms, which would usually be burnt, will be commercially viable instead.
Petrobras said Compact GTL has concluded the technology's research and development phase, and is now ready to begin the demonstration phase.
Source: Xinhua |
