Petrobras will work at Cade to maintain its stake in TBG, says Prates – 04/17/2023 – Market

The president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, said this Monday (17) that he will work within official channels with Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) to maintain the stake of the state-owned company in TBG (Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil). .

Since 2019, there have been negotiations for Petrobras to sell its 51% stake in the company that operates the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline. The aim was to stimulate competition in the market.

According to Prates, the oil company’s approach to the body will be different from that applied by the previous government.

“We respect Cade’s allegations, but now we have to defend ourselves, both in the case of fuels —which forced us to sell refineries, in our view improperly, without the defense at the height that the case deserved— and in the issue of gas”, he told journalists after a seminar on natural gas at Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo).

Petrobras signed a Term of Commitment to Cessation of Practice with Cade, which provided for the full withdrawal of natural gas distribution and transport assets by December 31, 2022. The company, however, was unable to move forward with closing the alienation.

Although it has already completed the sale of large gas pipeline networks, such as NTS and TAG, the state-owned company still owns a stake in TBG.

During the event, Prates also stated that he will work together with the government and other agents to develop the Brazilian natural gas market, which will also make it possible to optimize the supply of the product by Petrobras.

The state-owned company is still the dominant agent in the national supply of gas, despite the deconcentration advances made within Cade.

Last month, the government announced the creation of a working group to study the role of natural gas in the reindustrialization of Brazil. One of the proposals is to use the state-owned pre-salt PPSA to increase gas supply.

“We are going to participate in as many working groups as necessary, with the government, agents, business leaders and society to enable the optimization of the natural gas that Petrobras produces”, stated Prates.

The president of the oil company also said that the company will explore “borders” with the Bolivian state company YPFB.

“[A Bolívia] it is an important gas producer in the region, it seems to me that it is suffering from a certain crisis of production recovery and new reserves, let’s go get them. It’s not difficult, having a single agent on the other side, for us to talk and see how we can work together”.

With Reuters