Brazil plans to open gas sector

Plans recently announced to promote competition in the Brazilian natural gas market may trigger a wave of privatizations between state-controlled distribution companies, attracting international and domestic buyers, industry experts say.

Brazil’s Cosan and Spain’s Naturgy Energy Group SA are among the companies potentially interested in the segment, which also include Portugal’s Galp, France’s Angie, and Spain’s Repsol.

The plan to reshape Brazil’s domestic natural gas market, approved by Brazil’s energy policy board at the end of June, requires that companies with a “dominant position” sell all their shares in distributors.

Petrobras, as the company is known, has entered into an agreement with the local antitrust authority to sell its gas transportation and distribution assets by 2021.

Petrobras has minority stakes in-state gas companies through its subsidiary, Gaspetro, in which Japan’s Mitsui holds a 49% stake.

Petrobras leaves Uruguay

Still on Petrobras, Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez and Petrobras President Roberto Castello Branco met on Tuesday, July 16, in Santa Fe, Argentina, to discuss a possible solution to the crisis that affects the two gas suppliers of Montevideo, both subsidiaries of the Brazilian consortium.

It was agreed that all necessary administrative measures will be taken to put an end to the concessions of Conecta SA and Distribuidora de Gas Montevideo before September 30, 2019.

According to a presidential statement, “The Uruguayan state will assume the operations of both concessions through legal instruments legally authorized for this purpose, in order to continue the services.”

Other sources have stressed that this solution will be “temporary” while new investors are found.

Sources: Nasdaq and MercoPress

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