CNPE creates group to improve use of natural gas

The presidential dispatch with the CNPE resolution establishing the group and detailing its composition and attributions was published in Official Diary of the Union this Wednesday (17). The activities will have a period of 120 days, counted from the appointment of the members, and may be extended by means of an ordinance of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME).

According to the MME, the search for a better use of natural gas is among the “priorities and main axes of work of the portfolio”, a theme that has been addressed since January in the meetings between Minister Alexandre Silveira and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Production

Data from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) released in April (referring to the month of February) inform that the national natural gas production in Brazil it was 146.540 million cubic meters per day (m³/d), obtained from 136 wells. The use of natural gas was 97.4%.

The same percentage (97.4%) is observed in other recent surveys, such as that of February, relative to the month of december 2022; it’s from Januaryfor November.

Among the factors that result in a decrease in the use of natural gas in its production chain are leaks, intentional burning of unused gas and operational failures.

Group goals

In order to improve this use, the working group provided for in the CNPE resolution will have, among its objectives, that of increasing the Union’s natural gas supply in the domestic market; to improve the use and social and economic return of the national production of natural gas, seeking to reduce reinjected volumes, in addition to what is technically necessary.

It also intends to increase the availability of natural gas for the national production of nitrogenous fertilizers, petrochemical products and other productive sectors, “reducing the external dependence on strategic inputs for the national productive chains”.

Another objective is to integrate natural gas into the national energy transition strategy “to contemplate synergies and investments that favor the development of low-carbon solutions, such as biogas/biomethane, low-carbon hydrogen, industrial cogeneration and carbon capture”.

Studies

To achieve these objectives, the group will also be responsible for developing measures and studies aimed at implementing swap (mechanism that helps to avoid exposure to momentary fluctuations in prices) of Union oil for natural gas, “to meet the objectives of the program”.

Studies will also be developed for the creation of a “long-term pricing policy that considers the prices of the molecule and energy products obtained from natural gas”; as well as to recognize – as cost items and an incentive measure to increase supply – those relating to access, construction, operation, and maintenance of structures in sharing contracts, “as an incentive measure to increase supply in the national market”.

Finally, it provides for the development of studies aimed at “other measures to encourage the construction of infrastructure for the flow, processing and transport of natural gas”.