Veolia Water and Petrobras sign contract to handle REFAP's oil-bearing secondary material processing unit

CHICAGO, July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Brazil and Veolia Water Americas signed a contract with Petrobras to design, build, own and operate an oil-bearing secondary material processing unit at its Alberto Pasqualini REFAP Refinery located in Porto Alegre, South Brazil. It is the sixth largest of Petrobras' refineries with a capacity of 200,000 barrels/day. The new unit will use Veolia's proprietary processes to recycle the oil-bearing material back into the refining production processes, which is anticipated to result in approximately $1.5 million in annual cost savings.

The recycled oil-bearing materials from the refinery's crude processing streams will be used in the refinery's coker unit. Veolia's proprietary processes will help Petrobras increase its refining utilization, while at the same time minimizing waste generation and thereby helping the environment. 

The parts and equipment for the new unit are being manufactured both in the United States and Brazil. The state-of-art processing unit is expected to begin operations in November 2013.  When fully operational, the unit is anticipated to process approximately 6,200 barrels of oil-bearing material each month, more than 74,000 barrels per year.

"The new project is based on our long partnership with Petrobras, focusing on helping the company reach its environmental goals," says Ruddi de Souza, General Director of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Brazil.

Veolia Water Americas is expert in oil-bearing material management solutions, supplying services to more than 50 North American refineries and processing approximately 30,000 barrels of the material every day. By doing so, it helps the refineries return approximately 2.5 million barrels of oil per year to the refining process.

"Based on our track record in North American refineries, we believe this new partnership with Petrobras will be very successful in providing a highly sustainable process for oil-bearing material recycling and help minimize waste generation," says Steve Hopper, Executive Vice President, Veolia Water Americas. "An important consideration was the ability to process different streams produced by the refinery and those that enter the refinery from different external sources. We have repeatedly demonstrated that our process will accomplish this essential task. We are honored that Petrobras selected Veolia Water as its partner for this important project," he adds.

Petrobras evaluated several different processes utilized by Veolia Water, as well as the company's services delivery model that guarantees commercial and technical performance. "Our approach reduces Petrobras' risk by guaranteeing project performance.  We can do this because of our unrivaled ability to back our proprietary technical solutions with a wealth of operational knowledge as demonstrated in refineries throughout North America," explains Benoit Guerin, Veolia Water Latin America Business Development Director.

Based in Chicago, Veolia Water Americas is the leading provider of comprehensive water and wastewater partnership services to municipal and industrial customers, providing services to people in approximately 550 North American communities and 100 industrial locations. The company is part of the Veolia Environnement companies in North America, with 10,000 North American employees providing sustainable environmental solutions in water management, waste services, and energy management. www.veoliawaterna.com

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies is the Veolia Water subsidiary specialized in technical solutions and design & build projects for water and wastewater treatment, for industrial and municipal clients. Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies recorded revenue of €2.4 billion in 2012. www.veoliawaterst.com  www.veoliawaterstna.com

In Brazil since 1993, the company operates in the solutions and technologies division in all activities related to water management, designing, implementing and operating water and effluents treatment services from various types of activities. Out of the Brazilian market, Veolia Water operates in various Latin American countries. It supplies integrated solutions for water, effluents and reuse treatment for more than 100 customers in a variety of industries like Mining, Oil and Gas, Paper and Pulp, Chemicals, Biofuels, Food and Beverage, Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Primary Metals and Energy.

Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water and wastewater services. Specialized in outsourcing services for municipal authorities, as well as industrial and service companies, it is also one of the world's major designers of technological solutions and constructor of facilities needed in water and wastewater services. With 89,094 employees, Veolia Water provides water service to 100 million people and wastewater service to 71 million. Its 2012 revenue amounted to $15.9 billion. www.veoliawater.com 

SOURCE Veolia Water