Petrobras plans offshore oil refinery

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Brazilian state-owned energy company Petrobras announced plans to deploy the first floating oil terminal in the world by 2014.

Petroleo Brasileiro, known also as Petrobras, announced an offshore oil terminal was under construction in China. It's estimated to cost around $310 million, the Daily Telegraph newspaper in London cites the company as saying.

The company said the terminal would cut down on production costs associated with offshore transportation.

The newspaper cites Petrobras as saying the offshore storage and transfer unit "will make it possible to store oil on the high seas and to transfer it to export vessels."

Petrobras this month announced plans to charter 12 offshore drilling platforms primarily for the Santos Basin off the coast of Brazil. Petrobras expects delivery of the 12 platforms by 2016. They are designed to operate in waters as deep as 9,800 feet.

Petrobras said there was an estimated 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the region.

More than 91 percent of the oil and 76 percent of the natural gas come from offshore fields and two of the country's largest producers, Bauna and Piacaba, are in the Santos Basin. Deployment of the offshore refinery is expected by 2014, the company said.