Petrobras announced the discovery of six natural gas basins 80 km from the coast of the state of Sergipe, northeast of Brazil. The extraction of 20 million cubic meters per day is expected, which is equivalent to one third of today’s production in Brazil or half of what Bolivia (South America’s largest supplier) sells across the continent.
The discovery must bring Petrobras a turnover of around US$ 1.8 billion a year. This is the most important discovery made by Petrobras since 2006, the year in which the pre-sal oil fields were discovered.
The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) also announced that there are other neighboring areas with indications of the presence of oil and gas, and that significant new discoveries could be announced shortly.
The significant discovery can have an impact not only on the economic result of Petrobras but also on the lowering of the price of natural gas, the government’s promise to stimulate and accelerate the re-industrialization of the country.
According to a study by the Ministry of Energy, the exploration and transportation of gas to the Brazilian coast will require an investment of not less than US$ 2 billions.
Celse, a company controlled by the Brazilian company Ebrasil, which holds 50% of the shares of the company, and a joint venture between a Norwegian company (Golar LNG) and a US company (Stonepeaks) is already present in the region.
Celse has a thermoelectric plant under construction (three gas turbines and a combined cycle turbine), which will transform natural gas into electricity. The investment is estimated at 4.6 billion euros. Production should start in January 2020 and will have a generating capacity of 1.5 gigawatts, the largest in Latin America.