Brazil: Petrobras Breaks Natural Gas Delivery Record

Petrobras broke its own natural gas delivery record last Friday, Sept. 21, when it placed 91.4 million m³ on the market. This figure was well above the previous record of 85.9 million m3, set on 11/12/2010.

Of the total delivered, 36.1 million m³/day went to the thermoelectric market, while 41.5 million m³/day to the non-thermal market (industries, residences, vehicles, cogeneration, and others). The remaining volume (13.8 million m³/day) was delivered to Petrobras’ units.

It is worth noting that it was only possible to reach this record due to the greater availability of domestic natural gas for the market, which amounted to 41.7 million m³/day. Also significantly contributing to this outcome was increased production at the Santos Basin fields (Mexilhão, Uruguá-Tambaú, and Lula), the importing of the maximum volume of gas contracted with Bolivia (31.5 million m3/day), and regasification of 18.2 million m³/day at Petrobras’ LNG terminals in Pecém (state of Ceará) and in the Guanabara Bay (state of Rio de Janeiro).

Power generation at Petrobras’ Generating Plants also reached successive record highs this month, peaking at 5,225 MW generated for the National Grid (NIS) on Saturday, Sept. 22, with consumption of 28.6 million m3 of natural gas. Petrobras Generating Plants’ total capacity stands at 6,952 MW, with National Grid thermoelectric plants accounting for 6,235 MW.

That same day, thermal power plants owned by third parties receiving supplies of natural gas from Petrobras generated 1,310 MW and consumed 6.4 million m3 of natural gas, resulting in a total of 6,535 MW of natural gas-fired power generation for the National Grid.

[mappress]
Press Release, September 28, 2012