[NYTr] Chávez, Lula to Meet in Manaos; Brazil Plans New Refinery Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2007 17:21:33 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit El Universal - Sep 4, 2007 http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/09/04/en_pol_art_chavez,-lula-to-meet_04A984917.shtml ChC!vez, Lula to Meet in Manaos The presidents of Venezuela and Brazil, Hugo ChC!vez and Luiz InC!cio Lula da Silva, respectively, are meeting in Manaos, the capital of Brazilian Amazonia, next September 20 to review their bilateral agenda, agreements and additional common issues. The Venezuelan Ministry of Communication and Information said in a press release that the meeting was confirmed during a telephone conversation the two rulers had on Monday, the official news agency ABN reported. During the talks, Lula "fully endorsed ChC!vez' efforts to achieve a humanitarian agreement" for release of the people kidnapped by the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). *** AP via International Herald Tribune - Sep 4, 2007 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/04/business/LA-FIN-Brazil-Oil-Refinery.php Brazil's Petrobras starts work on new refinery without Venezuela's PdVSA by the Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil: Brazil's state-run oil company began construction Tuesday of a heavy oil refinery in northeastern Brazil, but without the planned participation of Venezuela's state-run oil company. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, was originally supposed to have a 40 percent stake in the US$4.05 billion (?2.97 billion) refinery, with Brazil's Petrobras holding the remaining 60 percent. But talks with PdVSA bogged down, and Petroleo Brasileiro SA began to bulldoze the refinery area without its Venezuelan partner. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who donned a construction helmet and rode a tractor at the opening, said in a speech that Brazilian officials had delayed the project to ensure environmental and anti-corruption rules were met. But Petrobras Chief Executive Sergio Gabrielli told the Agencia Estado news agency that they couldn't afford to hold back the project further for negotiations with the Venezuelan company. Gabrielli said the Brazilian company will build the 200,000-barrel-a-day refinery along if PdVSA backs out, though he did not say that had happened. In December 2005, Silva and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez laid the cornerstone of the Abreu e Lima refinery in northeastern Brazil, and the two oil companies announced a partnership. About six weeks ago, Petrobras sent a proposed shareholders agreement to PdVSA, but PdVSA hasn't responded, a Petrobras press official said last week. The refinery is scheduled to start operation in 2010. The project had been tied to the joint development of an extra-heavy oil field in Venezuela's Orinoco Basin. Oil from the Carabobo I field is supposed to supply half of the crude for the Abreu e Lima refinery. But Petrobras and PdVSA haven't finished a development plan for Carabobo and Petrobras hasn't signed a deal that would commit it to the project. The Pernambuco refinery will mainly produce diesel fuel, Petrobras said. It is expected to produce 8.8 million tons of diesel per year, as well as 814,000 cubic meters of naphtha, 322,000 tons of cooking gas and 1.4 million tons of coke. The refinery will be the first to process 100 percent heavy crude, which is abundant in Brazilian offshore fields and in Venezuela, both on land and offshore. Refining more Brazilian heavy oil will reduce the country's need to import light oil to produce quality fuels. * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================