Petrobras overcomes impasse in the Campinas-Rio gas pipeline
O Estado de S. Paulo - 05/16/2008
Petrobras has decided in Court the impasse that was preventing the conclusion of the works in the Campinas-Rio gas pipeline. The transport of gas is expected to start within 40 days. The works were practically complete, but there was a segment of 600 meters of pipeline still to be set up, which goes through a private property in the limits of the States of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. According to the Officer of Gas and Energy of Petrobras, Graça Foster, the conclusion of the gas pipeline will become possible to relieve the currently overloaded systems of transportation. According to her, "the Judiciary gave effect to the company's expropriation right". "We have not subjected ourselves to any agreement outside the legal sphere and the solution was provided by the Court", she guaranteed. Budgeted at nearly US$ 300 million at the time of its launching in 2004, the Campinas-Rio gas pipeline is one of the 183 Petrobras' projects within the sphere of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC). The project was designed to have capacity to carry 8.7 million cubic meters of natural gas per day along 800 kilometers. The pipeline is part of the Petrobras' Projeto Malhas (Network Project) that foresees the implementation of gas transportation in the Southeast and Northeast Regions and in their interconnection. A specific company was set up in order to meet the needs of the Southeastern Region, the Nova Transportadora do Sudeste - NTS (New Carrier of the Southeast). The share control of the company belongs to Mitsui & Co (40%) and to Itochu Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation (30% each). According to the state owned company, NTS will be responsible for raising the financial resources and for the investments required in the construction of the gas pipeline and in the purchase of other equipment. Petrobras will be in charge of the purchase of the transport capacity. The state-owned company informs that 40% of the undertaking will come from financings released by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), 30% from the Brazilian Social and Economic Development Bank (BNDES), and the remaining amounts will come from international banks.