Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) awarded São Paulo-based Consag Engenharia SA the first official contracts for the operator’s long-planned expansion and upgrade of the Refinaria Abreu e Lima (RNEST) refinery in Ipojuca, Pernambuco, in northeast Brazil, as part of a project to double the site’s overall nameplate capacity to process crude oil (OGJ Online, June 29, 2023).
Under three separate contracts finalized as of June 16, Consag Engenharia will resume and complete construction of three new units included as part of Petrobras’ plan to add a second processing train (Train 2) to its existing 130,000-b/d, single-train RNEST refinery, the operator said.
Petrobras confirmed Consag Engenharia’s scope of work specifically covers implementation of the Train 2 project’s:
Main 130,000-b/d atmospheric crude distillation unit (CDU).
Delayed coking unit, which will have a processing capacity of up to 75,000 b/d.
Diesel hydrotreating unit, which will be equipped to process up to 82,000 b/d for production of 100% low-sulfur S-10 diesel (10 ppm sulfur) for the Brazilian market.
Valued at a combined 4.9-billion reals ($888.1 million), award of the three contracts marks the revival of the previously stalled Train 2 project—work on which was interrupted in 2015—to boost RNEST’s total crude processing capacity to 260,000 b/d, as well as increase the refinery’s production of finished petroleum products to meet market demand, especially for S-10 diesel (OGJ Online, Jan. 18, 2024).
In addition to reducing emissions of particulate matter, S-10 diesel—which has a higher cetane number than S-500 diesel (500 ppm sulfur)—promotes improved fuel performance of vehicle engines in line with Brazil’s stricter air pollution control program for on-road heavy-duty and utility vehicles, the company previously said.
“RNEST is strategic for Brazil, as it is Petrobras’ hub in the North and Northeast regions,” said Magda Chambriard, Petrobras’ chief executive officer, upon announcing the contract awards.
“The[se] contracts to resume construction on [RNEST’s] Train 2 demonstrate the company’s commitment to [Brazil’s] development, representing the expansion of our refining capacity and enabling the increase in the production of derivatives to meet the demands of society and the market,” Chambriard added.
While associated service packages for the Train 2 project are still in the tendering stage, Petrobras said the trio of units included under these latest contracts let to Consag Engenharia are scheduled for startup in 2029 to position RNEST as the company’s second-largest refinery in terms of crude processing capacity.
Petrobras said total works planned for RNEST’s Train 2 will potentially generate about 30,000 direct and indirect jobs by the project’s conclusion.
RNEST modernization
The June contract awards for the Train 2 project follow the operator’s execution of related works to equip the RNEST refining park for competitively and sustainably meeting Brazil’s national demand for petroleum derivatives, the operator said.
In May, Petrobras confirmed its March-2025 completion of the RNEST Train 1’s revamp, which included works to improve operations of the existing CDU, delayed coker, and other unidentified auxiliary units that, together, helped return Train 1 to its nameplate130,000-b/d capacity, as well as increase its yield of light products and ability to process crude from Brazil’s offshore presalt formation (OGJ Online, Apr. 21, 2023).
In December 2024, the operator also commissioned RNEST’s new atmospheric emissions abatement (SNOX) unit— a first of its kind in the Americas— which converts sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) into sulfuric acid marketable to third parties for treatment and generation of drinking water (OGJ Online, Dec. 20, 2024).
Alongside enabling the refinery to incrementally improve its crude processing capacity with atmospheric emissions limit set by the site’s local environmental regulator, the new SNOX unit also helps RNEST improve its energy efficiency via reuse of excess steam created during the Topsoe AS-outfitted SNOX unit’s SOx-eliminating process elsewhere in the refinery by reducing consumption of gas otherwise required to generate steam for other refining processes, the operator said.
Upon completing RNEST’s combined expansion and modernization works, Petrobras aims to increase its supply of high-demand low-carbon products, including 13 million l./day of 100% low-sulfur S-10 diesel (OGJ Online, Feb. 13, 2024).
