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Acelen: privatized refinery reduces cooking gas production in Bahia and population suffers from shortages
Company accelerate drastically reduced the supply of cooking gas to wholesalers of the product in the state of Bahia. The company controls the Mataripe Refinery, in São Francisco do Conde (BA), after buying it from Petrobras in 2021.
According to Union of Gas Traders of Bahia, as a result of this reduction in production and supply, almost half of the points of sale for cylinders in Salvador and surrounding areas closed. In addition, communities located in the interior of the state suffer from a lack of the product.
Most of the gas that is sent to distributors in Bahia is generated at the Mataripe Refinery, which was privatized by Petrobras in 2021. Acelen, founded by a fund called Mubadala Capital and headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, has since then been in charge of managing the installation.
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After privatization, the new administrator implemented its own fuel costing policy, which led to an increase in the price of gasoline and diesel in Bahia and consolidated the state as a leader in charging high prices.
Unforeseen problems during maintenance at the Acelen refinery caused problems with the gas supply in Bahia
Acelen was tasked with ensuring that mandatory refinery maintenance was completed on time. To comply with these procedures, production units must sometimes be stopped. Exactly what is happening right now and causing the gas supply interruption in the state.
According to Radiovaldo Costa, director of the Union of Petroleum Workers of Bahia (Sindipetro-BA), Acelen had no choice but to perform maintenance on its gas production unit.
It was planned to use another unit, which had been inoperative since 2019, in an attempt to maintain supply. However, the reactivation of this unit was accompanied by unforeseen circumstances, which generated operational difficulties. The end result was a lack of supplies.
Acelen and Sindigás reported that supply should return to normal very soon
Acelen has informed its customers that it is making active efforts to restore the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Additionally, it revealed that it had contracted ships to reinforce supplies, while production is not regularized.
Sindigás reported that some companies transport gas by road in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Recife, and some even import it in road loads from Argentina and Bolivia to try to reduce the impact of the problem.
Sindigás emphasized that there is no need to be in a hurry to buy the cylinders because the supply of these items will be stabilized very soon. And he warned that buying in advance could create an impression of scarcity and put upward pressure on prices, which could bring more harm to society.
