Nov. 16,2005 (Bloomberg) — Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, and Astra Oil Co. a unit of Belgium’s Cie. Nationale a Portefeuille, signed an agreement to study the joint operation of an Astra oil refinery in Texas.
Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras and Astra are considering the joining to run the Pasadena Refining System Inc., formerly known as the Crown Refinery, in Pasadena, Texas, which Astra bought in January, Petrobras said in a statement on its Web site.
The refinery is undergoing upgrade to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gasoline and diesel-fuel standards and will be soon be able to handle heavy grades of oil, including those with a high sulfur content such as pumped from Petrobras’ undersea Brazilian fields.
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