据9月10日Gulf Times报道，巴西已不再容许自己立于全球天然气繁荣市场之外。

这个拉丁美洲国家准备将能将LNG输送到该国发电厂的设施数量增加一倍以上。BP和美国投资公司等外国投资者正在支持进口液化天然气的项目，因为政府开放了能源市场。

进口能力的提升标志着巴西的转变，在不断增长的液化天然气贸易中，巴西并不是主要参与者。该国的大多数发电厂都是由水电站大坝供电的，而从近海盐前地区生产的天然气有助于满足国内需求。但在全球供应过剩的情况下，液化天然气的价格比以往任何时候都要便宜，这增强了巴西对液化天然气的吸引力。

巴西国家石油局（national petroleum agency）局长塞萨里奥?切奇（cesario cecchi）在接受采访时表示：“液化天然气价格如此便宜，大西洋上现在有很多货物在寻找客户。”

巴国油在巴西沿海运营3个浮式液化天然气进口设施。还有4个正在积极准备，他们都得到了外国投资者的支持。

总部位于百慕大群岛的戈拉尔液化天然气有限公司（Golar）正在巴西北部调试一艘船只，该船只将为计划于明年1月启动的新发电厂供应天然气，这一项目也由stonepeak资助。戈拉尔正在该国寻求另外两个浮式液化天然气设施。巴西普鲁莫物流公司（Prumo Logistica SA）、BP和西门子公司（Siemens AG）的合资企业Gas Natural ACU正在计划一个进口项目，预计将于3月份开始投产。

但巴西的液化天然气雄心面临几个障碍。巴西国家石油公司实际上仍然控制着巴西的天然气生产、运输和进口，尽管它最近将其大部分管道出售给了包括Engie SA和Brookfield Asset Management Inc.在内的公司。液化天然气与盐下地区的产量会与邻国玻利维亚通过管道输送的天然气形成竞争。

今年年底该国市场将发生重大变化，届时巴西将开始允许私营企业通过该国的管道输送天然气。

因为今年12月一份长期协议到期后，减少巴西通过管道从玻利维亚进口的天然气数量将会减少，从而为更多的液化天然气供应打开大门。

洪伟立 摘译自 Gulf Times

原文如下：

LNG boom reaches Brazil as foreign money backs imports

Brazil is no longer waiting on the sidelines of the global natural gas boom.

The Latin American country is poised to more than double the number of facilities that can super-chill gas to a liquid for delivery to the nation’s power plants. Foreign investors from BP Plc to US investment firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners are backing projects to import liquefied natural gas as the country opens up its energy markets to competition, ending state-controlled Petrobras’ decades-long virtual monopoly.

The boost in import capacity marks a shift for Brazil, which hasn’t been a major player in the growing LNG trade. Most of the nation’s power plants are fed by hydroelectric dams, and gas produced from the offshore pre-salt region has helped meet domestic needs. But LNG is cheaper than ever amid a global glut, boosting the fuel’s appeal for Brazil.

The “LNG price is so cheap, there are a bunch of cargoes in the Atlantic Ocean right now looking for clients,” Cesario Cecchi, a director at the National Petroleum Agency, said in an interview.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, operates three floating LNG import facilities off the Brazilian coast. Four more are on the way, and they’re all backed by foreign investors.

Bermuda-based Golar LNG Ltd is commissioning a vessel in northern Brazil that will supply gas to a new power plant scheduled to start up in January, a project also funded by Stonepeak. Golar is pursuing two other floating LNG facilities in the country. Gas Natural Acu, a joint venture between Brazil’s Prumo Logistica SA, BP and Siemens AG, is planning an import project that’s expected to begin commissioning in March.

“The monopoly days are over and Brazil will see natural gas prices fall as what we call the ‘monopoly spread’ goes away,” said Carlos Langoni, an economist with Rio de Janeiro-based think-tank Fundacao Getulio Vargas.

But Brazil’s LNG ambitions face several hurdles. Petrobras still virtually controls gas production, transportation and imports in Brazil, though it recently sold most of its pipelines to companies including Engie SA and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. LNG competes with output from the pre-salt region and deliveries via pipeline from neighbouring Bolivia.

A major shift will happen at the end of the year, when Brazil starts allowing private companies to carry gas through the country’s pipelines. The amount of gas Brazil imports via pipeline from Bolivia will be cut when a multiyear contract expires in December, opening the door to more LNG deliveries.