The natural gas distributor of Brazil's northeastern Bahia state will supply gas to state-controlled firm Petrobras to produce fertilizers in its Fafen unit.
Bahiagas will supply 1.2mn m³/d of gas through pipes to Petrobras' unit in Camacari, Bahia, Petrobras said. The gas will allow the firm to produce nitrogen-based fertilizers there
Natural gas is used as feedstock to produce urea and ammonia.
The resumption of fertilizer production at Fafen will contribute to boosting national production, Petrobras said. "It will guarantee a profitable alternative for the consumption of natural gas produced in Brazil," Petrobras's director of industrial processes and products William Franca said.
Petrobras said it expects the unit to start operations in January, but the company did not specify the launch date.
The unit is in final stage of maintenance and commissioning is ongoing, with work to enable system and equipment tests.
It will produce ammonia, prilled urea and Arla 32, a heavy vehicle emissions-control product also known as AdBlue in Europe and DEF in the US. It also includes the operation of the ammonia and urea maritime terminals at the port of Aratu, in Bahia, to handle the products.
The two Fafen fertilizer units — the other is in Sergipe state — have a combined capacity of 1.1mn metric tonnes (t)/year of fertilizer and technical urea and 900,000 t/yr of ammonia.
Bahia's Fafen returned to Petrobras' control in April. The unit was leased to Brazilian petrochemical group Unigel — along with the Sergipe unit — but operations were suspended in 2023 because of high gas prices.
Petrobras will invest more than R2.6bn ($469.4mn) on fertilizer units and shipyard structure, it said in October.
