President Jair Bolsonaro participated this Monday morning (31) in the ceremony that marked the beginning of the final phase of operational tests at the GasLub Polo, in Itaboraí, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Bolsonaro was accompanied by the president of Petrobras, Joaquim Silva e Luna, the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, the minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, and the mayor of the city, Marcelo Delaroli.
The president of Petrobras, Joaquim Silva e Luna, highlighted the importance of the work developed by the federal government that allowed the recovery of the petrochemical complex. “More than a set of installations and processing units, we are dealing with a multipurpose project of great strategic value for Brazil, which will contribute to greater national energy security”, highlighted Silva e Luna in a speech at the event.
When fully operational, the Gaslub Hub will process 21 million cubic meters (m³) of pre-salt gas in the Santos Basin daily, representing 20% of national consumption.
The entry of natural gas into the complex occurs through the Guapimirim-Comperj I (Gaserj) gas pipeline and enables the start of operations of the utility systems, mainly in the Steam Generation and Distribution Unit. According to Petrobras, these systems will guarantee the supply of the facilities and equipment necessary for the start-up of the Natural Gas Processing Unit (UPGN) scheduled for 2022.
Gaslub will reduce the import of natural gas and will generate more energy security for the country. Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque said that in recent years Petrobras has managed to increase oil and gas production. “If today the world is experiencing a crisis between supply and demand, we, the president, have increased the country’s oil exports due to the 286% increase in production. This is in two years of a pandemic.” Also according to the minister, the hub will increase the capacity to transport gas from the Brazilian pre-salt layer.
The executive director of Institutional Relations and Sustainability at Petrobras, Rafael Chaves Santos, said that investments in the state company are being resumed. “All this corruption from the past scared away the country’s investments.” According to him, in 2021 Brazil had the first relevant investment in Brazilian refining.
