Brazil gas coalition will continue: Representative

A coalition of Brazilian industries lobbying the federal government over natural gas issues will continue to work together, according to its leading association.

The group is still analyzing gas supply and demand fundamentals to develop proposals to present to the government, president of the Brazilian association for industrial engineering (Abemi) Joaquim Maia told Argus.

One member had indicated earlier that the group could dissolve.

A study sponsored by the group will be ready within two months and will be presented to members of the ministry of mines and energy (MME) and to the ministry of development, industry, commerce and services (Mdic). Members of the coalition are touring Brasilia this week and meeting both governmental agencies, Maia said.

"I do not know of any internal split in the group," he said. "If any group that participates in the coalition had meetings in the agencies other than with the coalition, they were working on separate topics. If anyone's relationship with the coalition is eroded, we are sure those are being externalized and being addressed."

The group includes representatives of economic departments from Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Sergipe states; industry advocacy groups from Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Minas Gerais; chemistry and plastic industry associations; pipeline operator TGBC; gas distributors association Abegas; and infrastructure sector associations Abdib, Abimaq and Abemi.

Fertilizer input producers' association Sinprifert, which was listed in the first documents produced by the coalition, is not listed among participants anymore. Issues from the fertilizer sector can be represented in the group by chemistry industry association Abiquim, Maia said.

No group within the coalition has a priority to ask the government to receive additional or earlier gas, Maia said. The group points out gas reinjections as a main concern for Brazil's industry, but also the lack of infrastructure, such as pipelines. The coalition group perceives natural gas as a driver for investments, but notes that some infrastructure could be used later to supply hydrogen or biomethane, Maia said.

By Flávia Pierry