Iraq calls on Brazilian company to build refinery with 200,000 bpd

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi government called on a Brazilian government-owned energy company to build a medium-sized refinery with a capacity of no less than 200,000 barrels per day (pbd), according to a report by the Wall Street Journal newspaper on Thursday. “The Iraqi government has invited Petrobras (PBR) to build a medium-sized oil refinery and enter joint ventures in the country,” according to a press release by the Brazilian firm. Petrobras, short for Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., is a semi-public Brazilian energy company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The company was founded in 1953 mainly due to the efforts of the Brazilian President Getulio Vargas. While the company ceased to be Brazil’s oil monopoly in 1997, it remains a significant oil producer, with output of more than 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, as well as a major distributor of oil products. The company also owns oil refineries and oil tankers. Petrobras is a world leader in development of advanced technology from deep-water and ultra-deep water oil production. Petrobras used to work in Iraq during the 1970s until the Iraqi-Iranian war broke out in the early 1980s. AmR (P) 1