Page 14 - LatAmOil Week 02 2021

LatAmOil BRAZIL LatAmOil

Fluxys to acquire minority stake in

Brazilian section of GASBOL from EIG

EIG Global Energy Partners, a US-based partners in Brazil.”
investment fund, revealed last week that it had Pascal De Buck, the CEO of Fluxys, spoke
agreed to sell its minority stake in Transporta- similarly. “We look forward to joining the
dora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolívia-Brasil (TBG), existing shareholders of TBG and developing
the owner and operator of the Brazilian sec- our co-operation with EIG in Brazil’s gas infra-
tion of the Bolívia-Brazil natural gas pipeline structure market,” he said. “It is important to
(GASBOL). continue the development of TBG’s key infra-
In a statement, EIG said it had agreed to sell structure, which is capable of providing Brazil
its 27.5% holding in TBG to Fluxys, a Belgian with roughly one-third of its daily natural gas
company. It did not reveal the terms of the sale, supply. Our aim is to bring to TBG’s board our
but it did say it expected to conclude the transac- industrial experience with gas infrastructure in
tion about two months after certain conditions regulated environments and support the pro-
had been met. gress of the company through this knowledge
“EIG and Fluxys will also explore further sharing.”
strategic co-operation in Brazil’s gas infrastruc- The GASBOL network was built to transport
ture market,” it added. gas from Bolivia to Brazil’s domestic market, but
R. Blair Thomas, the CEO of EIG, elabo- it also handles some gas from fields in Brazil’s
rated on this point, saying: “We are thrilled to offshore pre-salt zone. It is 2,593 km long and
have reached agreement with Fluxys for the sale has a throughput capacity of 30mn cubic metres
of our interest in TBG,” he said. “It has been a per day.
privilege to support the growth and develop- TBG, the operator of the Brazilian section of
ment of GASBOL, critical infrastructure that the link, is one of the three largest gas pipeline
delivers natural gas to key markets in Brazil, operators in Brazil. It crosses four different states
including Sao Paulo and the industrial regions in the country and maintains physical connec-
in the south-eastern part of the country. This tions with seven distributors and many end-us-
investment underscores our dual commitment ers in those states.
to supporting growth and development in this Additionally, it “is the only carrier in the
important region of the world while creating country that manages its own operations and
value for our investors. Today’s sale positions maintenance and is the pioneer of the “entry
the EIG portfolio for additional opportunities in and exit” model in the Brazilian grid system,”
Brazil, and we look forward to partnering with EIG noted.
Fluxys where possible.” The investment fund has also invested in sev-
Thomas also stated that EIG was eager to eral other Brazilian gas projects. It has devoted
expand its footprint in Brazil’s growing gas sec- more than $2bn to energy infrastructure in the
tor. “Looking ahead, we believe that the market South American country over the last decade. It
dynamics for natural gas infrastructure in Bra- has, for example, provided support to Gas Natu-
zil are very favourable, positioning the sector ral Açu (GNA), which is the owner and operator
for extraordinary growth,” he said. “We remain of a complex that includes an LNG import ter-
committed to the ongoing strategic relation- minal, several gas pipelines and a gas-to-power
ships we have established with Fluxys and our facility. ™

The GASBOL pipeline is nearly 2,600 km long (File photo)

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 02 14•January•2021