Petrobras said today it will offer new types of natural gas contracts in Brazil's open market with more flexibile and competitive terms, but provided no details on the planned offers.
The company also announced new commercial contract models for gas sales to state distributors, offering price reductions for current contracts of up to 10pc. The reduction will be connected to the distributors performance, Petrobras said, without providing more detail.
The move by the state-controlled giant is significant given the 2021 gas market liberalization as aimed at increasing competition at every step of the value chain beyond just Petrobras. But progress has been slow in cutting Petrobras' market share, lowering prices, and increasing market transparency.
The 2021 gas law covers the full lifecycle of natural gas, from production to transportation, processing to storage, and sales. A key provision aimed at promoting competition in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, particularly transportation and distribution.
Yet, three years later, there is little sign of downstream customers migrating to the free market, despite some moves such as those from Delta Geração, Acelen, Gerdau, Tradener, and others. The number of free market commercial contracts does not exceed ten, according to a lawyer specialized in the energy market.
