Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras expects to import some 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) of petrol on average in 2012, which would mean a 30% rise from 2011, the company’s downstream director Paulo Roberto Costa said.
The estimated growth mirrors the increased domestic petrol consumption. In January 2012 alone, the consumption registered a 36% swell from the same month of 2011.
In the first two months of this year, Petrobras’s gasoline imports rose by 34% in annual terms, according to Costa.
Diesel imports, on the other hand, added 10% on the year.
The diesel imports in 2012 are seen to remain at 150,000 bpd, the same as in 2011, thanks to the boosted diesel output at the Brazilian refineries, the executive noted.