Petrobras releases teasers with opportunities in the energy and oil & gas sectors
This week, Petrobras Petrobras announced for the first time the sale of a NGPU (Natural Gas Processing Unit) located in Alagoas, in conjunction with the sale of exploration fields in the region (access the teaser).
This opportunity comes in the wake of Petrobras' disclosure of the terms of access to the UPGNon May 28, 2020, in compliance with the Term of Commitment for Assignment of Practice signed with CADE (TCC), aiming at the opening of the natural gas market.
Initially, the first offer of capacity will be targeted at natural gas producers in the in the exploration fields, thus ensuring the outflow of gas and continuity of production in the fields. With this, the other producers will remain the owners of the gas and its derivatives after processing, increasing the offerors of products in the downstream and allowing the beginning of the opening of the market. In the second phase, the processing capacity will be made available for contracting by the other players players in the marketIn the second phase, the processing capacity will be made available for contracting by other market players on an annual basis, opening the range of options and modalities for contracting the delivery of gas to be purchased by interested parties.
Throughout this year, Petrobras has been announcing several investment opportunities in the energy sector, with the sale of its stakes in energy generation projects with a diversified portfolio of sources (natural gas, fuel oil, diesel and hydro), oil-fired thermoelectric plants in several locations, stakes in fields, the entire offshore fields in Ceará, among others.
It was also announced the sale of Petrobras' 10% stake in NTS - Nova Transportadora do Sudeste, responsible for the pipeline network that serves Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. In December 2019, Petrobras had already announced the sale of its 10% stake in TAG - Transportadora Associada de Gás, which operates the pipeline network that begins in Rio de Janeiro, passes through Espírito Santo and serves the Northeast region.
Also up for sale is Petrobras' stake in Gaspetro, which has a relevant shareholding in several natural gas distributors.
These teasersThese teasers, in addition to the fulfillment of the TCC with CADE, confirm the tendency of Petrobras to increasingly focus on its core business, which is the exploration of oil and gas, as reiterated statements of its current president, Roberto Castello Branco.
These are some important steps towards the deverticalization of the natural gas chain in search of the desired market opening, so necessary to leverage the sector in the country. The multiplicity of agents is expected to make the market more competitive, attracting new investments in infrastructure and expanding the consumer market.
Luciana Reis do Rosario Pires
Lawyer at Barcellos Tucunduva in charge of Infrastructure and Energy practice area
[email protected]
