ST. GALLEN, Switzerland (MarketWatch) -- BP PLC's (BP.LN) plans to invest $1.5 billion in biofuels in 2011 but won't do so at the expense of food security in the countries where it does invest, Chief Executive Robert Dudley said Friday.
"It is our policy...We will not invest in biofuel, in corn-based ethanol, on lands used for food, it will be in the Brazilian grasslands" which are used specifically for fuel crops, Dudley told an audience at a business conference here.
BP in March bought an 83% stake in Brazilian ethanol and sugar producer Companhia Nacional de Acucar e Alcool, or CNAA, for $680 million. BP was also the first global oil major to make an acquisition in Brazil's ethanol sector, buying a 50% stake in Tropical BioEnergia SA in 2008.
This was echoed by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) Chairman Jorma Olila. Shell undertook a $12 billion tie-up with Cosan Industria e Comercio SA, the world's largest sugar and ethanol group, in February last year.
"The only investment in first generation biofuels we have okayed is in Brazil, where it will not interfere with the production of foodstuffs or affect the integrity of the rainforests," Olila said.
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bp-says-plans-to-invest-in-biofuels-this-year-2011-05-13