Shell and Brazil's Cosan to jointly make ethanol

Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, has signed a $12 billion joint venture agreement with Cosan SA, Brazil's biggest ethanol manufacturer, to produce and distribute ethanol from sugar cane, the two companies announced Wednesday.

The binding agreement represents the largest investment by a major oil company in Brazil's ethanol industry. The deal, first unveiled in February, still requires regulatory approval.

Cosan will contribute its existing capacity to crush 60 million tons of sugar a year at its 23 mills, producing 2 billion liters (528 million gallons) of ethanol, said a joint statement.

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