Brazil to get first S. American LNG import terminal

Brazil soon may host South America's first liquefied natural gas import terminal. Brazilian state petroleum company Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Royal Dutch/Shell unit Shell Brasil last week signed an accord setting in motion plans to build an LNG receiving and regasification terminal along Brazil's northeastern coast. The terminal would be located near Recife, capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco. The terminal reportedly would be linked with one or more proposed thermoelectric

Nov. 16, 1998

2 min read

Brazil soon may host South America's first liquefied natural gas import terminal.

Brazilian state petroleum company Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Royal Dutch/Shell unit Shell Brasil last week signed an accord setting in motion plans to build an LNG receiving and regasification terminal along Brazil's northeastern coast.

The terminal would be located near Recife, capital of the northeastern state of Pernambuco. The terminal reportedly would be linked with one or more proposed thermoelectric power plants in Pernambuco state that would be fed by the regasified LNG.

On hand for the signing were Brazil's Vice-President Marco Maciel, Minister of Mines and Energy Raimundo Brito, and the recently elected Pernambcuo Gov. Jarbas Vasconcelos.

The terminal, to be located at the port of Suape, 30 km south of Recife, is expected to have capacity to receive as much as 75-210 MMcfd of natural gas, which equates to about 1.5 million metric tons/year of LNG. First deliveries are scheduled for early 2003.

Shell and Petrobras estimate the total investment at about $200 million, netting each company a 50% stake in the venture. Plans call for signing a joint venture agreement to implement the project by second quarter 1999.

The imported gas will mostly be intended to meet increasing industrial demand for natural gas in the states of northeastern Brazil and to generate electric power in a region that is undergoing intensive economic development.

The source of the LNG supply for the proposed terminal has not been disclosed, but the Trinidad and Tobago-based Atlantic LNG export project has previously been cited by industry analysts as a prospective LNG supply source for Brazil.