With a capacity for 18 million liters (4.8 million gallons) per year, the work, which will have an investment of approximately 2 billion reais (US$ 940.7 million), is part of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) of the Brazilian federal government, and was confirmed last Thursday, March 1st, Brazil's Ministry of Planning, Paulo Bernardo, in Curitiba, the capital of Paraná state.
Bernardo visited Curitiba, along with Finance Minister Guido Mantega to participate in the Southern Regional Forum of the Council for Economic and Social Development. During the forum, the PAC was officially presented to businessmen and political leaders in the region.
In addition to industry executives and politicians from Paraná, also attending the meeting were businessmen and representatives of the Federations of Industries of the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.
Construction work should begin in 2008. By the end of 2006, technical and engineering studies should be concluded. Afterwards, a tender will be issued for hiring contractors.
The multi-pipeline, which will also be capable of transporting gasoline and diesel, is going to cross the city of Araucária, in the Greater Curitiba region, where the Presidente Getúlio Vargas Refinery (Repar) is based. The plant has a processing capacity of 189,000 oil barrels per day.
The work had been a dream of businessmen and politicians in Paraná for 10 years. The initial idea was to build a gas pipeline to bring in gas from Bolivia, passing through Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and crossing the northeast and north of the state before getting to the Port of Paranaguá.
The transformation of the gas pipeline into a multi-pipeline will also allow for the transportation of alcohol fuel, of which Paraná is one of the country's largest producers. In the 2005/2006 crop, the state produced 1 million cubic meters of alcohol, of which 35% consisted of anhydrous alcohol (used as an additive to gasoline) and 65% of hydrated alcohol (vehicle fuel).
The multi-pipeline is part of a set of works for the southern Brazilian region, which, according to federal government plans, will receive investments of up to 37.5 billion reais (US$ 17.6 billion) by 2010. The funds will be invested, in infrastructure works, such as roads, ports and airports, in partnership with the private sector.
Omar Nasser works for Fiep (Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná)
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