President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday announced the expansion of the Abreu e Lima plant, a diesel refinery in the northeastern state of Pernambuco owned by Petrobras, the country’s state-controlled oil major.
Abreu e Lima’s expansion was halted in 2015 after it became one of the epicenters of the Operation Car Wash anti-corruption task force, which dismantled corruption schemes involving all of Brazil’s major political parties.
Petrobras now expects construction of the refinery’s second train to begin in the second half of this year, with completion expected in 2028. The first train has been in operation since the end of 2014.
Petrobras CEO Jean Paul Prates said the investment is expected to be around BRL 6 billion to BRL 8 billion (USD 1.2 to 1.6 billion), depending on bids received. “We want it to be as cheap as possible,” he said. The company also promises that the work will create 30,000 new jobs.
The Abreu e Lima refinery is cited 24 times in the 2017 corruption and money laundering conviction that eventually sent Lula to prison. Former judge Sergio Moro — now a senator in Lula’s opposition — found that former...
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