Brazil Reconsiders Shelved LNG Plan

Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras may revive a shelved liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports project for the northeast due to disappointment with soaring costs of its planned Gasene natural gas pipeline, according to a Reuters report. A regasification plant could be an alternative to Gasene, or be used jointly with the pipeline as natural gas demand in Latin America’s largest country is soaring. Gasene is designed to connect Brazil’s southeastern and northeastern gas networks. Its initial estimated cost of over $1.1 billion went above $2 billion after Brazil brought in Chinese partner Sinopec earlier this year. Demand for natural gas is growing rapidly at over 20 percent a year in Brazil due to increasing industrial use and back-up thermoelectric plants. Brazil produces only associated gas and imports the bulk of pure natural gas from Bolivia. Source: Caracas Daily Journal