Golar Power will import LNG in Bahia despite doubts about rent
Golar Power was authorized by the Ministry of Mines and Energy to import up to 20 million m3/d of LNG through the Bahia regasification terminal, despite continued uncertainty over whether the company's only offer to lease the facility is valid.
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Golar Power, a 50:50 joint venture between Norway's Golar LNG and US private equity fund Stonepeak, was the only company to submit an offer to state-owned Petrobras to lease the terminal.
The company already imports LNG into Brazil through its regasification terminal in the neighboring state of Sergipe, where it also operates the 1,5 GW Porto de Sergipe plant.
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Golar refutes Petrobras' accusations
Golar Power reiterated its interest in the lease and refuted Petrobras' assessment of the company's integrity risk after Golar Power's chief executive was implicated in Brazil's Lava Jato corruption investigation.
In a tender last month, Golar Power submitted a proposal to pay Petrobras R130 million (US$23,6 million) to lease the terminal between 2021 and 2023.
Golar's interest continues with interest
Golar Power claims that the events under analysis took place in 2010, six years before the company was created. The firm appealed the decision, but Petrobras did not indicate how long it will take to deal with the appeal.
Golar Power accepted a license request from its chief executive Eduardo Antonello, who was appointed in the 75th phase of Operation Lava Jato. The allegations stem from his previous involvement with Norwegian contractor Seadrill, whose Brazilian subsidiary was served with a search and seizure warrant as part of an ongoing government investigation into corruption.
Government suspends investigations
The incident highlights the ongoing reach of the Lava Jato investigation, more than six years after former Petrobras director Paulo Roberto Costa was arrested in the early stages of the corruption investigation in 2014.
Since then, the investigation has recovered over R14 billion in misappropriated funds. President Jair Bolsonaro said this week that he has suspended investigations because there is no more corruption in the government, a claim refuted by prosecutors, who said the president's statements show his ignorance of the work still in progress by the task force and his lack of commitment to the fight against corruption.