The agreement between PPSA and Petrobras enables the Union’s first natural gas auction, scheduled for October after years of intense infrastructure negotiations.
Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) solidified a strategic partnership with Petrobras on Thursday (9/10). Under the agreement, the oil company will act as the commercial agent responsible for supporting the natural gas auction that the Union intends to hold next month.
This step is crucial for the federal government to successfully bring to market the volume of gas originating from its share in production-sharing contracts.
With the pact signed, PPSA expects to release the pre-tender notice for the auction in the coming days. The process follows the guidelines of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), which is currently conducting a public consultation open until September 14 to refine the competition’s supplementary rules.
Operational Details and Commercial Flexibility
The operation of this commercial relationship is supported by Resolution 15/2026 from the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE). The document allows, for instance, for remuneration for commercialization services and the use of gas pipelines and processing units to be made through exchange.
In other words, PPSA can pay for infrastructure sharing by offering fractions of natural gas, GLP, or other derivatives, respecting national market prices.
The state-owned company highlighted that the collaboration between the companies involves exchanges of rich and processed gas. PPSA emphasized that this agreement enables the offering of firm volumes of already processed Union natural gas to the market.
“The understanding between the companies enables PPSA to directly offer the market firm volumes of already processed Union natural gas.”
The company did not provide detailed data on the values or specific clauses of the negotiation, which will be valid for three years.
Regulatory Challenges and ANP Mediation
The formalization of the agreement concludes a four-year period of complex negotiations, which even attracted the attention of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). In August, the regulator formed a special committee to assess whether the delay and the terms for accessing gas pipelines and processing units operated by Petrobras could constitute anti-competitive practices.
The main point of contention involved the contractual costs of accessing the outflow system, specifically the ‘send-or-pay’ clause. Under this rule, the Union ends up bearing the financial burden for the total contracted transportation capacity, regardless of whether it fully utilizes the service.
The conclusion of the agreement occurs amid movement in the sector, while an ANP public consultation aimed at updating the rules for third-party access to processing and transportation infrastructure is running in parallel. With this hurdle overcome, the market now awaits the official publication of the tender notice to understand how large consumers will access the Union’s gas supply.