Açu Petróleo at Argus Rio Crude Oil Conference
Açu Petróleo, a partnership between Prumo Logística and the German company Oiltanking, was one of the participants in the Argus Rio Crude Oil Conference in Rio de Janeiro. The 6th edition has received about 100 executives from the oil and gas industry to discuss the challenges of the sector, based on the increasement oil production forecast for the next years.
In the “Market access for Brazilian supply” panel, the Açu Petróleo’s CEO, Victor Bomfim, talked about the challenges of the sector and the required investments to deal with the expected production growth. “Brazil has a huge logistical challenge for the next 5 years, with the prospect of increasing Brazilian exports to around 2 million barrels of oil per day, practically twice what is exported today,” said the executive. To deal with this demand, Bomfim highlighted the importance of investments in storage. “With the increase in exports, it will be necessary to expand the country’s storage assets, providing exports with vessels of greater capacity. At Açu Petróleo, we are working on the development of an onshore tanking park, with a capacity of around 5 million barrels, which will enable the optimization of the entire oil export logistics chain for our customers, in addition to offering additional services such as dewatering and blending, ”he said. The beggining of storage park’ operations is scheduled for the end of 2022.
At the meeting, the executive also highlighted the main characteristics of Açu Petróleo terminal, and the transshipment’s forecast for 2019. “Since the terminal started operating in 2016, we have already carried out more than 75 oil transshipment operations, 12 with VLCC vessels, which have a storage capacity of up to 2 million barrels of crude oil. For this year, we expect to double this number ”.
The Açu Petróleo terminal has a 25 meters deep channel access and is the only private terminal in Brazil able to receive VLCCs vessels. The oil transhipment is carried out by Oiltanking (a world-class operator), in an area sheltered by breakwaters and surrounded by containment barriers, which enables a reliable and safe operation, with efficiency and smaller final cost for customers. With a modern infrastructure, the terminal has capacity and is licensed to handle up to 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.