After ending the bidding phase this week, four companies started final negotiations with the selected ones to define the winners. The expectation is to conclude the negotiations by the end of the first half of 2021. Copergás) has already closed the selection process, with Shell as the winner.

In total, the Companies received 24 proposals, from 9 participants: Oncorp, Total, PetroReconcavo, Petrobras, Shell, Golar, Compass, Potiguar EP and EBrasil, some of which did not present their offers to all distributors.

If there was a possibility of offering biomethane in this call, there were no proposals. The total purchase is 2.406 million m³ / day of natural gas, with the supply scheduled to start in 2022.

Producers, importers or trading agents were able to participate in the public call. Although prepared in a coordinated manner, the initiative will not result in a joint purchase of natural gas. Due to the specificities of each distributor in relation to volumes and delivery points, the five companies opted for their own notices and will carry out the acquisition individually.

Together, the five distributors serve more than 184 thousand consumers of natural gas and have more than 2,670 kilometers of distribution networks in 61 municipalities.

Contracts with the current supplier (Petrobras) will end or begin to be reduced as of January 2022, with the need to sign new agreements with substitutes.

The Cegás lot provides for a supply volume of 600 thousand m³ / day, for two years, with supply starting on 01/01/2022. The volumes will be delivered to the Custody Transfer Stations - ETC, located in the municipalities of Fortaleza, Aquiraz, Pecém, Caucaia, Aracati and Horizonte. Cegás serves 22,482 customers, with 555.4 km of piped gas network.

Algás ended the phase of receiving proposals, within the scope of the Public Call for the acquisition of natural gas, on November 13, beginning the phase of detailed analysis of the proposals. The distributor expects a supply volume of 270 thousand m³ / day. The Company currently serves 54,578 customers, with 533 km of piped gas network.

Potigás currently has a network of more than 450 km and serves more than 29 thousand customers in Natal, Grande Natal and Mossoró. The Company foresees the purchase of up to 236 thousand cubic meters of fuel daily. The announcement was made in a single contracting lot.

However, there is an expectation for the release of access by producers to Petrobras' natural gas processing unit in Guamaré (RN), whose authorized natural gas processing capacity is 5.7 million m3 / day. In a technical note published by the ANP, it was pointed out, after analysis, that none of the current measurement systems are an impediment to sharing the facilities, and the current systems can be used without compromising the operation and, therefore, access to UPGN Guamaré must be immediately, using art.32 of ANP Resolution No. 17/2010.

Sergas distributes natural gas to 33,164 customers, located in seven municipalities. The company intends to acquire 300 thousand m³ / day for commercialization through its distribution network, which totals 250 km. By 2024, Sergas plans to reach 308 km of distribution network and 52,006 customers, in 10 municipalities in Sergipe.

At Copergás, the first purchase lot, via the gas pipeline, provides for distribution in two stages: one of 750 thousand m³ / day in 2022 and the other of 1,000,000 m³ / day in 2023. The second batch will be via terminal, with average consumption of 500 thousand m³ / day in the first year and 750 thousand m³ / day in the others. The two lots continue the expansion of Copergás' supply network and point in the direction of the company's interiorization plan, which in 2020 reached Ipojuca, on the beaches of Muro Alto and Porto de Galinhas, and for the coming years will reach Garanhuns and Petrolina, among other municipalities.

Present in 28 municipalities in the State, with a network that already approaches 1,000 km of gas pipelines, Copergás has more than 50 thousand customers.

As in 2019, one of the bottlenecks of this call continues to be access to transport gas pipelines by the new providers. The uncertainty regarding the transportation tariff also brings uncertainties, as well as the delay in the lease process, by Petrobras, for the regasification terminal in Bahia.

The president of Cegás, Hugo Figueirêdo, said that the public call took place within the expectations for the current moment in the sector. "The interest of gas companies is to expand the range of suppliers and, thus, increase the competitiveness of natural gas, directly benefiting the end consumer with better prices". And he added: "We hope, this time, that regulatory and competitive bottlenecks will be eliminated in time for there to be real competition between providers and the beginning of the long-awaited fall in the price of natural gas in the country."