Brazil's state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras announced on Wednesday that it has successfully ended the negotiations of an ethanol supply agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), under which it will export the first shipment of anhydrous fuel alcohol to Nigeria.

According to the company's press statement, the negotiations were the follow-up to a memorandum of understanding, which Petrobras and NNPC signed in August 2005, aiming at implementing the program to add 10 percent ethanol to all gasoline traded in Nigeria.

Petrobras' proposal included product sales, technical support for mixing ethanol, handling procedures and NNPC employee training.

The Brazilian company also said that in the next few weeks the first 20-million-liter shipment will be loaded at the Ilha D'Agua Terminal, in Rio de Janeiro, and unloaded in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria.

The oil and gas giant added that it currently still has no plans to invest in the construction of ethanol production plants in Nigeria, or even in facilities to store, handle or mix ethanol to gasoline in that country.

Petrobras stressed the important role that Brazil has played in the global alternative fuel market and its own role as a Brazilian industry booster, exporting products and service to new markets.

Source: Xinhua