September 2010 Vol. 237 No. 9

Projects

Petrobras' LNG Among World's Main Infrastructure Projects

Petrobras’ LNG regasification project was singled out by the KPMG think tank as an infrastructure highlight in the world.

The survey, carried out by KPMG’S global infrastructure practice alongside the Infrastructure Journal, an English service on global infrastructure and project funding, lists the 100 most interesting global infrastructure projects in the world.

Based on a groundbreaking project, Petrobras has built two LNG regasification terminals, one at the Pecém Terminal, in São Gonçalo do Amarante (state of Ceará), and another in the Guanabara Bay, in Rio de Janeiro. The regasification process is done on board vessels. In operation since January 2009, together the two terminals can process 21 MMcf/d of natural gas.

The regasification is done aboard the Golar Winter and Golar Spirit vessels, chartered from multinational outfit Golar LNG. The two vessels had been operating as LNG carriers and were adapted, especially for Petrobras’ projects to store and regasify gas in liquid form as well as for transportation. In practice, the vessels act as natural gas reservoirs and can be considered the heart of Petrobras’ LNG project. KPMG’S list cites the project as the Golar/Petrobras FLNG.
One of the innovations of the Petrobras LNG project is the transfer between LNG vessels – the supply vessel and the regasifier one – via cryogenic arms capable of withstanding temperatures of minus 162°C. The potential for this project’s replication the world over was the main reason cited by the judges.