Petrobras Offers Third-Party Access to Gas Plants
Brazil's national oil company Petrobras has initiated procedures to allow other gas producers to use its processing capacity, it said on May 27, under an agreement reached with antitrust regulators last year.
Petrobras operates 10 gas processing plants in eight states with a combined capacity of 90mn m3/d. The two largest are the 25.2mn m3/d Cabiunas and 20mn m3/d Caraguatatuba plants in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo respectively. The pair process gas from offshore fields in the pre-salt Campos and Santos basins.
Because it owns the gas processing facilities, Petrobras is Brazil's main buyer of third-party gas. Other producers including international oil companies must sell their gas to Petrobras rather than sell it on the open market.
Under the new business model, though, Petrobras will act as a processor of third-party gas rather than acquiring it. Other producers will then be able to sell their supplies directly to clients.
"With this measure, Petrobras reaffirms its commitment to contributing towards the development of an open, competitive and sustainable gas market in the country," it said.
Brazil launched its gas market programme last year, ending Petrobras' monopoly over gas distribution and transportation in a bid to attract more investment in gas supply and infrastructure.