Petrobras Signs Letter of Intent With Sergipe Government to Create Natural Gas Market in the State and Enable Pipeline Project

To Continue the Construction Project of the New Gas Pipeline for Gas Evacuation in the Region, Petrobras Signed a Letter of Intent with the Government of Sergipe and Is Now Seeking to Attract Customers for the Natural Gas Market.

During last Monday (06/13), the Brazilian state-owned company Petrobras and the Government of the State of Sergipe met for the signing of a letter of intent aimed at the natural gas market in the state. The main objective of the agreement is to expand the natural gas market, attract more customers, and enable the construction of the gas pipeline for the fuel evacuation project in the region.

Government of Sergipe and Petrobras Join Forces to Seek New Customers for the Natural Gas Market in the State with the Signing of a Letter of Intent

Petrobras continues to expand its business portfolio in the natural gas sector, especially after the Bolivian cut in recent weeks, and has now met with the government of Sergipe to sign a letter of intent. In this way, the state-owned company seeks to attract the attention of investors in the natural gas sector to the state to raise even more capital and enable the deepwater project in the region.

This is because the state-owned company has a gas production project in deep waters off the Sergipe coast, which is expected to start operations in 2026, with about 8 million cubic meters per day of gas expected in the initial phase.

However, the construction of a gas pipeline is necessary for the evacuation of the energy source, with a capacity of 18 million m³/day to the coast. Thus, the letter of intent may bring the necessary investments for the project to move forward in the state of Sergipe.

In addition, in the strategies that the letter of intent is seeking to implement in the state, the government of Sergipe intends to reduce the ICMS tax on natural gas for industrial use. Thus, energy entrepreneurs will be able to verify the possibility of installing new projects in the state, and with that, the region will be able to raise the necessary revenue for the gas pipeline project.

Petrobras announced the feasibility of a natural gas project in the state in 2021 and has since been seeking to accelerate the development of this initiative.

Letter of Intent Signed Between the Government of Sergipe and the Brazilian State-Owned Company Will Bring Necessary Investments for the Deepwater Project

The project that Petrobras will undertake in the state of Sergipe for the production of natural gas is the first major new frontier being developed by the state-owned company outside of the pre-salt region. Thus, the expectation is that, after the construction of the gas pipeline, the company can install two FPSO-type platforms off the Sergipe coast to continue the project.

Furthermore, the first platform (P-81) is expected to start operations in 2026 and will have a production capacity of 120,000 barrels/day of oil and 8 million m³/day of natural gas.

However, the initiative to build the platform was canceled in May when the company faced issues regarding investments and project costs. Now, the state-owned company returns to the project with the aim of enabling the construction of the gas pipeline to continue the initiative for natural gas and oil production off the Sergipe coast.

Thus, the Governor of Sergipe, Belivaldo Chagas (PSD), emphasized the importance of the signed letter of intent and stated: “Sergipe will have a huge production of natural gas starting in 2026, so it is necessary to already seek its destination; in this sense, we have been actively working to ensure that Sergipe can attract large gas-consuming enterprises.”