en.Wedoany.com Reported - Petrobras is studying projects to increase fertilizer production capacity at its existing plants, the company's Executive Manager for Natural Gas Processing, Wagner Felício, revealed during a press conference on May 13. Felício stated that this evaluation is similar to the capacity revamps the company has conducted at its refineries, is still in the research phase, and must pass internal economic and financial analysis to prove profitability.
Petrobras operates three nitrogen fertilizer plants in the states of Bahia, Sergipe, and Paraná, which together account for approximately 20% of the country's urea market. The company also plans to commission a new plant in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, in 2029, with the Board of Directors having approved an investment of approximately US$1 billion in April to resume construction of the UFN III plant.
President Lula visited the nitrogen fertilizer plant in Camaçari, Bahia, on May 14, which resumed production in January. The plant had been leased to Unigel during the Bolsonaro administration and had been idle since late 2022. After reclaiming it, Petrobras invested R$100 million to restart operations, producing 1,300 tons of urea per day, meeting about 5% of national demand.
Petrobras CEO Magda Chambriard pointed out in a speech on May 13 that the private sector had failed in fertilizer production, and that the plant's restart was made possible by increased own natural gas production, which helps reduce the opportunity cost of natural gas and injects vitality into the fertilizer industry. She also criticized discussions on the gas market unbundling plan, which is on the regulatory agenda of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels and is scheduled for implementation in 2027.
Chambriard stated that the key to lowering natural gas prices is large-scale production, not changes in ownership or executive orders. The Profert Bill (PL 699/2023) has been placed on the Chamber of Deputies' agenda. The bill provides tax exemptions for natural gas and tax incentives for fertilizer plants but has yet to be reviewed by the plenary. Proposed by Senator Laércio Oliveira, it was passed by the Senate in March 2024. In the Chamber of Deputies, it is being reported by Deputy Ferrari Júnior, whose substitute text sets a budget cap of five years or R$7.5 billion. The bill nearly passed in November 2024 but was blocked by the intervention of then-Finance Minister Fernando Haddad. Following the outbreak of the Iran war in 2026, the Parliamentary Agricultural Front is once again pushing for the bill's passage.
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