Agência Brasil*
Rio de Janeiro – The natural gas market in Brazil, although still emerging, has grown on average 13% a year in recent decades. The consumption is now around 43 million cubic metres per day, according to information supplied by Brazilian oil company Petrobras, the main player in the sector.
The participation of natural gas in the Brazilian energy matrix, which was just 0.9% in 1981, jumped to 3.1% in 1990. One decade later, in 2000, this figure had risen to 5.4%, and 8.9% in 2004. The federal government target, according to Petrobras, is to reach 2010 with natural gas having a participation of 11% of the energy matrix in the country.
To the state-owned company, which this month published booklet "Proposal for Development of the Natural Gas Industry in Brazil", the evolution of the gas sector depends on a model that takes into consideration the stage of development that the each country finds itself in.
Petrobras believes that the development of the sector should be promoted by private companies and that it could operate as a "catalyst". To proceed with the process for generation of greater demand and larger natural gas transport capacity, the company has already announced investment of around US$ 16 billion up to 2010.
The funds will permit expansion of the offer of natural gas in the country to over 100 million cubic metres a day, of which 65% will be produced by the company and 35% will be imported form Bolivia. Of the total to be invested, US$ 5.2 billion will be in gas pipelines, aimed at the expansion of the transport infrastructure for the product.
"In the next ten years we will have investment of between US$ 10 billion and US$ 12 billion in projects for development of production of natural gas in Santos Basin," revealed Ildo Sauer, Energy and Gas director at the company.
Petrobras figures are that the gas sector should bring investment of approximately US$ 5 billion a year in the country economy up to 2010, with investment in the whole of the gas sector productive chain, in the distribution network, and in the increase of consumption, specially in sectors like the thermoelectric, industrial, residential and transport.
Due to this, the company estimates that there will be generation of between 600,000 and 700,000 jobs. Brazil currently imports between 24 and 30 million cubic metres of natural gas from Bolivia each day, corresponding to approximately 50% of the domestic demand. By the year of 2010, the country should be importing just 35% of the total necessary for supply of the domestic market.
The Brazilian congress is currently debating a project for regulation of the natural gas sector, focussing on transport, storage and trade of natural gas. The Brazilian Natural Gas Distributors Association (Abegas) defends the regulation of a tender for the selection or transporters responsible for new pipelines and for the construction and management of new storage infrastructure.
*Translated by Mark Ament
