Petrobras lifts LNG imports to offset major pipeline maintenance

Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras is turning to liquefied natural gas imports this month to secure supplies while it carries out maintenance work at a major offshore pipeline.

Petrobras is making regasification terminals in Bahia state and Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara bay fully available for up to 50 million cubic meters a day of imports, the company said in a response to questions. It’s also maximizing supply from other domestic sources of gas, reducing the use of the fuel at its refineries and maximizing imports from Bolivia, it said. 

Petrobras also coordinated maintenance work at thermal power plants to coincide with the pipeline outage, it said. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, didn’t specify when the work on the Rota 1 pipeline and Mexilhao platform will end. 

Javier Toro, a senior research manager at Wood Mackenzie who covers gas and power for the southern cone of South America, said the work on Mexilhao started March 3 and should last about 20 days. Going forward, Toro said Brazil’s hydroelectric reservoirs are relatively high and that LNG imports to cover power dispatches will only be needed during the dry season from August through October.