Oil companies' goal is to find a market for their growing gas production and thermoelectric projects are on the radar

The A-6 energy auction that will take place this Friday (18/10) and was already eagerly awaited by energy companies, now also attracts the attention of large oil companies. Petrobras and Equinor have already formalized an agreement for gas thermoelectric plants!
The reason for so much interest is the search by oil companies for a consumer market for their natural gas production, foreseen by the new blocks sold by the ANP auctions or by the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Interested parties

The interest is not only from Petrobras, other major oil companies such as Equinor, Shell and BP are looking for opportunities in the energy sector.
Even though these large companies are focusing on thermoelectric plants, only two of the twenty-six qualified projects must be contracted at the A-6 auction.

Much due to the fact that we only have two specialist companies in energy competing in this event, Engie and Eneva have already confirmed their presence to compete with the oil companies.
It is also worth mentioning the presence of Shell, GNA (BP/Siemens/Prumo Logística) and Golar, owners of the three largest private power generation projects under construction in countries that want to expand their thermoelectric complexes.

The oil giant Shell, already invests in thermoelectric power plants and will participate in the A-6 auction with its expansion project for the Marlim Azul thermoelectric power plant (565 megawatts), in Macaé (RJ), where the multinational, with a 29,9% share, is a partner at Pátria Investimentos (50,1%) and Mitsubishi (20%).
The company is now the second largest producer of natural gas in Brazil, with volumes of 15 million cubic meters per day (m³/day), that is, 11% of the entire volume produced in the country.

Petrobras and the Equinor, which last week signed an agreement for the development of gas projects, should use the production of the ão de Açúcar field, in the Campos Basin, to supply third-party plants.
BP wants a market for its imported LNG. The British oil company is already a supplier to the plants under construction by GNA at Porto do Açu, in São João da Barra (RJ), for a total of 3 MW.

Eneva, which only loses to Petrobras and Shell in natural gas production, is today the largest generator of energy through thermoelectric plants in the country, with 1,4 MW of installed capacity from natural gas plants in the Parnaíba Complex, in Maranhão, and another 500 MW under construction.
Eneva, with a 270 MW project in Parnaíba, appears as one of the favorites in the A-6 auction due to the low cost of producing its natural gas, compared to pre-salt and LNG.

They will be contracted by the A-6 auction, between 500 and 600 megawatts (MW) average and despite being considered a modest volume, it is expected that it will be a start, fueled by the federal government's "New Gas Market".

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