Venezuela completes turnaround on ethanol policy with order for 260 Mgy in capacity from Brazil’s Dedini

In Venezuela, the state oil company PDVSA has contracted with Brazil’s Dedini to construct four ethanol plants with a total production capacity of 260 Mgy. The move comes less than one year after Venezuela voted to support a draft report to the UN General Assembly calling for a five-year moratorium on the production of ethanol from sugar cane.

In March of this year, PDVSA announced a reversal of the policy, making a distinction between sugarcane ethanol and ethanol made from corn, and President Chávez introduced an E7 national ethanol target.

Venezuela said that it plans to build more than 300 million gallons in domestic ethanol capacity, with a total construction of 14 ethanol plants. The first four plants will be constructed in Barinas, Portuguesa, Cojedes and Trujillo states, and will be completed by the end of 2009.

A background report on Venezuela is available here.

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