Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras has cleared US LNG company Excelerate Energy to lease its 20mn m³/d Bahia regasification terminal in an important step toward opening of Brazil's natural gas market.
Petrobras is currently analyzing Excelerate's revised lease proposal to ensure that it meets the required technical criteria. Excelerate presented the new bid in July after Petrobras disqualified its original proposal because of the inclusion of a termination clause.
If the deal moves ahead, Excelerate will take control of the terminal by 31 December.
The US company could not be immediately reached for comment.
The lease is part of Petrobras' 2019 agreement with anti-trust agency Cade, which requires the company to exit gas transport and distribution.
The Bahia terminal has the commercial advantage of connecting to the Transportadora Associada de Gas (TAG) pipeline system, facilitating distribution of regasified LNG.
The announcement comes as gas distributors in northeastern Brazil seek supply agreements for 2022, after Petrobras said it would not renew their contracts.
Excelerate was one of 11 companies that was recently pre-qualified for a joint tender offer by three northeastern gas distributors: Algas (Alagoas), Bahiagas (Bahia) and PBgas (Paraiba).
LNG supply to the region is expected to increase substantially, with two new regasification terminals slated to start operations in early 2022 at Suape port in Pernambuco state.
TAG has also announced plans to build a pipeline connecting New Fortress Energy's Sergipe regasification terminal to its pipeline by early next year.
Petrobras is increasingly under pressure to bring a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to the Pecem terminal in Ceara state to boost thermoelectric generation as the country faces its most severe drought in over 90 years. The government recently mandated that Petrobras begin operating all three terminals by 30 September.
The Pecem terminal is currently idle because Petrobras only has two FSRUs – the 173,400m³ Excelerate Experience currently deployed at its Guanabara terminal and the 138,000m³ Golar Winter at Bahia.
This week, the government cleared the Termoceara thermoelectric plant to operate on diesel because of limited gas supplies in Ceara.