Avaliação das oportunidades do gás natural liquefeito em pequena escala no Brasil sob as perspectivas do produtor, transportador e do onsumidor final

Abstract

Natural gas requires the implementation of a specific and costly infrastructure for the adequate management from production units to end-user. Therefore, natural gas value chain benefits from economic of scale. However, empirical observations from oil and gas megaprojects sector indicate that construction delays and costs overrun are common, which questions the economy of scale assumption. In this context, small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) value chain emerge as an option that could enable the monetization of stranded onshore gas resources, transportation of gas over long distances and competition with residual fuel oil in the industrial sector. This study analyzes small scale LNG under three different perspectives. From the producer’s perspective, it shows that monetization of onshore resources is feasible only for associated natural gas. From a transportation perspective, small scale LNG is the most competitive solution to transport gas in distances above 900 km, when compared to high-pressure pipelines. However, this distance can change due to delays and overrun costs in pipelines. Finally, the conversion of industrial consumers is feasible for the small scale LNG chain supplied by the transshipment of LNG from the traditional large-scale LNG chain.