The natural gas chain in Amazonas begins in the Petroleum Province of Urucu, in Coari, where it is extracted and feeds the generation of electricity in municipalities in the interior and in the state capital, as well as industries, businesses and homes in Manaus. In addition to the generation of jobs, savings for the user, continuous supply and product quality, this chain guaranteed the State more than R $ 1 billion in ICMS in the last two years.

In addition to this billion-dollar collection for the State, the process for distributing natural gas to the final consumer has been demanding infrastructure in permanent development. Until April 2020, Cigás invested more than R $ 270 million in the implementation of 137 kilometers of gas pipelines, to serve more than 3,200 consumer units that opted for this safer and cheaper fuel.

The CEO of Cigás, René Levy Aguiar, points out that this raw material is an indisputable vector of development for the State. “Cigás follows all the steps, step by step, to take natural gas responsibly and with quality to the final consumer, whether in Manaus or in the interior. This whole process results in gains for the Amazonian population and, mainly, for users ”, he said.

Bill 153/2020 

Bill 153/2020 of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Amazonas, which provides for the regulation of natural gas distribution in the State, considers unfounded assumptions about the fuel production chain. As in the composition of the price, where the total value of the service provided by Cigás represents only 4.57%, with the production, transportation and taxes of natural gas being the largest parts in the price of fuel.

Likewise, contrary to what the project indicates, tariffs in Amazonas are competitive in the national market, with the lowest price in Brazil for businesses, the second lowest for homes and the fifth lowest for industries, according to the February / 2020 from the Ministry of Mines and Energy. In the local market, the economy with the use of natural gas can reach up to 50%, in relation to other fuels.

Another point to be highlighted is that, according to Aneel, 53.5% of the tariff is the result of generation, transmission and sector charges, so the participation of Cigás' tariff in the composition of the electricity cost is insignificant, represents less than 1%.

Cigás' tariff is regulated by the State Regulatory Agency for Delegated and Contracted Public Services (Arsepam) and is very competitive both nationally, according to a monthly survey by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, as well as local. As the Company grows, new investments will be made to bring the benefits of natural gas to more segments of our society, because over almost a decade of operation, this patrimony of the people of Amazonas has been advancing with safe steps, comparable to the large distributors that operate in other units of the federation ”, defended Levy.