Norway's Statoil and Brazil's Petrobras to cooperate on biofuels
Northern Europe's largest oil company Statoil and the Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras have signed a long-term strategic collaboration agreement for exploration and production as well as biofuels.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Oslo on 14 September by Helge Lund and José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, chief executives of Statoil and Petrobras respectively.
The two state-controlled companies signed the agreement during an official visit to Norway by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of ethanol, and the head of state has been touring Nordic nations this week to promote his country's biofuels program.
Amongst his successes are a commitment by Sweden to remove import tariffs on ethanol (earlier post), a collaboration agreement with Finland to fight climate change through the increased use of bioenergy (here), and a research collaboration program by Denmark's Novozymes, a leading developer of enzymes, and the Center for Sugarcane Technology to produce second generation biofuels from sugar cane in Brazil (more here).
Statoil chief executive Helge Lund said the Norwegian company wants to develop specific projects with Petrobras on producing biofuels as a sustainable supplement to fossil fuels for the transportation sector. Through the partnership with Petrobras, Statoil hopes to gain new experience from the worlds most well-developed biofuel market.
The two companies are also working together on a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project in Brazil. They emphasise 'responsible behaviour' which safeguards society and the environment as well as creating value for the community at large, Lund says.
Brazil has been promoting its biofuels as a cheap, eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels amid soaring oil prices and global warming concerns. To make the production of the fuels part of a poverty alleviation effort, Brazil has implemented a policy of incentives for companies who source their biofuel feedstocks from certified small farmers. Some 60,000 small farmers are said to be benefiting from this 'Social Fuel' program (earlier post):
energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: Brazil :: Norway ::
The companies presently have several partnership agreements within exploration and production in Brazil, Angola, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico. The partners also formed a technology partnership in 2003 that includes drilling, exploration and subsea operations.
Statoil currently distributes E85 biofuel with the bulk of the ethanol imported from Brazil, and sells it through 170 of its service stations in Sweden. It reported a sales growth of 270% on year to 19.5 million liters in 2006 (earlier post).
Statoil has only recently started building a presence in the production chain of the biofuels sector, by buying a 42.5% interest in UAB Mestilla. Mestilla is building the biggest biodiesel factory in the Baltic states (more here).
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Oslo on 14 September by Helge Lund and José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, chief executives of Statoil and Petrobras respectively.
The two state-controlled companies signed the agreement during an official visit to Norway by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of ethanol, and the head of state has been touring Nordic nations this week to promote his country's biofuels program.
Amongst his successes are a commitment by Sweden to remove import tariffs on ethanol (earlier post), a collaboration agreement with Finland to fight climate change through the increased use of bioenergy (here), and a research collaboration program by Denmark's Novozymes, a leading developer of enzymes, and the Center for Sugarcane Technology to produce second generation biofuels from sugar cane in Brazil (more here).
Statoil chief executive Helge Lund said the Norwegian company wants to develop specific projects with Petrobras on producing biofuels as a sustainable supplement to fossil fuels for the transportation sector. Through the partnership with Petrobras, Statoil hopes to gain new experience from the worlds most well-developed biofuel market.
The two companies are also working together on a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project in Brazil. They emphasise 'responsible behaviour' which safeguards society and the environment as well as creating value for the community at large, Lund says.
Brazil has been promoting its biofuels as a cheap, eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels amid soaring oil prices and global warming concerns. To make the production of the fuels part of a poverty alleviation effort, Brazil has implemented a policy of incentives for companies who source their biofuel feedstocks from certified small farmers. Some 60,000 small farmers are said to be benefiting from this 'Social Fuel' program (earlier post):
energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: Brazil :: Norway ::
The companies presently have several partnership agreements within exploration and production in Brazil, Angola, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico. The partners also formed a technology partnership in 2003 that includes drilling, exploration and subsea operations.
Statoil currently distributes E85 biofuel with the bulk of the ethanol imported from Brazil, and sells it through 170 of its service stations in Sweden. It reported a sales growth of 270% on year to 19.5 million liters in 2006 (earlier post).
Statoil has only recently started building a presence in the production chain of the biofuels sector, by buying a 42.5% interest in UAB Mestilla. Mestilla is building the biggest biodiesel factory in the Baltic states (more here).
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