BP eyes new biomethane plants in Brazil

: Agriculture, Biofuels, Natural gas
25/10/02

BP has the potential to develop at least nine biomethane projects in Brazil in the future, BP Brazil president Andres Guevara de la Vega said on Thursday.

He did not provide further details such as capacity, location or timetable of the projects, although he suggested they would use feedstock from BP's existing ethanol operations.

Biofuels, including biomethane, are an important part of BP's strategy in Brazil, alongside its oil assets in the offshore pre-salt, de la Vega said at an event in Rio de Janeiro organized by the British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil.

BP cemented its position in the Brazilian ethanol and sugarcane market when it acquired full ownership of Bunge in 2024. Now called BP Bioenergy, the biofuels firm has 11 plants and is Brazil's second-largest ethanol producer behind Raizen, a joint venture between Shell and Cosan.

BP is looking to build on this and start producing biomethane and other ethanol-based biofuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), de la Vega said.

The firm is currently developing its first 70,000 m³/d biomethane project in central-western Goias state, using sugarcane bagasse as feedstock.

BP produces co-processed SAF and could explore other technologies such as alcohol-to-jet in the future, de la Vega said. SAF is particularly interesting for BP in Brazil as the firm is also a major jet fuel distributor there, providing fuel in over 40 airports.

An eye on corn

While the focus is on sugarcane and biomethane, the firm is also eyeing production of corn ethanol, de la Vega said.

"You can't ignore corn," he said. "I think there are interesting synergies between corn and sugarcane."

Corn ethanol has grown fast in Brazil in recent years. It produced 7.55bn l (130,315 b/d) of corn ethanol in 2024, 20pc of its overall ethanol production in the year, according to government energy research agency EPE.

Market participants expect Brazil to produce 9.8bn l of corn ethanol in the 2025-26 crop cycle, which spans from April 2025-March 2026, according to a median of projections in an Argus survey.

By Constance Malleret

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25/11/17

US removes tariffs on Australian, New Zealand beef

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Chile turning right in presidential elections

25/11/17

Chile turning right in presidential elections

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Cop: 'Tangible' transition from fossil fuels needed

25/11/15

Cop: 'Tangible' transition from fossil fuels needed

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Trump trims Brazil beef, coffee, fruit tariffs by 10pc

25/11/15

Trump trims Brazil beef, coffee, fruit tariffs by 10pc

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Cop: 10 countries pledge to align transport with 1.5ºC

25/11/14

Cop: 10 countries pledge to align transport with 1.5ºC

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