Golar accuses Petrobras of delaying gas market opening
Golar Power Comercializadora de Gás Natural has filed a public complaint against the decision by Petrobras that disqualified its proposal for leasing the Brazilian state oil company’s LNG regasification terminal in Bahia state (TRBA).
The Bermuda-headquartered firm requested that antitrust authority Cade gets involved to guarantee the execution of the term of commitment of cessation (TCC) signed with Petrobras in 2019. Under the TCC, Petrobras will reduce its footprint in the domestic natural gas market.
According to Golar, the disqualification was arbitrary and decided even before the company received the integrity due diligence questionnaire, required by Petrobras to evaluate the group’s risk degree.
“Petrobras clearly does not intend to fulfill its obligation of leasing the TRBA with celerity, resulting in high economic benefit for the company as it maintains the gas monopoly for longer, harming society,” Golar said in the document submitted to Cade.
The company added that, as the TCC foresees only a closure date (2023) and not a starting date for the regasification terminal lease, “the longer it takes for signing the leasing contract, the lesser will be the competition brought by the winner of the tender.”
Golar was the only company to submit a bid in the auction for the LNG terminal. BP Energy requested more time to present an offer, while Compass Gás e Energia declined to bid.
Petrobras’ decision to exclude Golar was made after Golar Power’s president in Brazil, Eduardo Antonello, became a target in the Lava Jato corruption investigation regarding his past activities as an executive of Seadrill, a rig operator that has charter contracts with Petrobras.
Golar said that “there is not a single investigation line in the Lava Jato operation related to any action involving the group” and highlighted that the company has signed several commercial deals with Petrobras since 2018, after the implementation of the oil company’s new compliance program.
Petrobras' press office told BNamericas that Golar's disqualification is in line with the tender rules, which are publicly available.
“Golar Power judicialized the matter, and Petrobras will adopt the appropriate measures for its defense in the judicial process,” the oil firm said.
Petrobras highlighted its commitment to developing an open, competitive and sustainable gas market in the country.
“The company has adopted a series of measures in this sense such as the sale of several gas transportation assets and the signing of natural gas flow and processing infrastructure sharing contracts in the Santos basin pre-salt [for] offshore gas pipelines,” the press office said.
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