RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras on Wednesday announced that it will build an ethanol pipeline running from the central Brazilian state of Goias to the Atlantic coast.

    Petrobras will cooperate with Japan's Mitsui and Brazilian private construction company Camargo Correa. The three will begin with a feasibility study.

    Petrobras said that the project is designed to provide the central west and southeast regions of Brazil, which produce most of Brazil's sugarcane-based ethanol, with an efficient means to export.

    Petrobras also signed a deal with Japan to export ethanol, and the pipeline will be a vital part of that agreement.

    The pipeline will start in the Goias city of Senador Cando, a receiving point for the ethanol produced in the central-west region. The ethanol will then be piped to the Paulina refinery in Sao Paulo, where the ethanol-blended auto fuel will be sent to the city of Sao Sebastao on Brazil's Atlantic Coast.

    The pipeline will reduce transport costs for the ethanol-blended fuel that Brazil has chosen as its main gasoline substitute and now plans to export.