Mubadala-owned Acelen is set to increase diesel production capacity at its Brazilian refinery Mataripe by 10% in June as part of its 736 million reais ($143 million) investment plan this year, Chief Operations Officer Celso Ferreira told Reuters.
Mataripe, Brazil’s second-largest refinery, accounting for about 14% of national capacity, is set to increase diesel production to 13,700 cubic meters a day from 12,400.
The investment comes as Brazil’s imports of diesel rise amid growing demand for fuel. Last year, the country imported about 29% of diesel consumption, according to data from consulting firm StoneX.
Acelen plans to invest 4 billion reais in the unit by 2030, focusing on maintenance, safety, energy efficiency and decarbonization, Ferreira said in an interview conducted on Tuesday.
After the expansion, the refinery’s diesel capacity will have increased by about 25% since it was acquired from state-run oil firm Petrobras in 2021.
Acelen is owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, whose renewable energy company in Brazil, Acelen Renewables, is also progressing with plans to build a neighboring biofuels refinery. Around 90% of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to be produced there initially is already under contract, the firm said.
The site, with planned capacity for 1 billion liters of biofuels annually, is expected to start operations by 2028. ($1 = 5.1502 reais)
(Reporting by Marta Nogueira, writing by Fabio Teixeira, editing by Susan Fenton)
