Golar Power has entered into a strategic alliance with Galileo Technologies. The agreement was signed on 2 July in Sao Paulo and will leverage Golar Power’s natural gas distribution project, without pipelines, in the interior of Brazil. The project will also tap into new biomethane sources. Galileo will support the venture by providing its Gas 3.0™ Solutions suite: gas conditioning, distributed LNG production, LNG filling stations, and regasification plants. With this initiative, Golar Power intends to increase the share of local LNG in its supply and accelerate energy transition towards a cleaner energy chain with a lower carbon footprint in Brazil: switching from diesel fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or heavy fuel oil (HFO) to natural gas.

Jul 03, 2020 - BNamericas

Some of the changes being studied by Brazil’s energy ministry to enhance the attractiveness of the second attempt to auction off the transfer-of-rights for the Sépia and Atapu blocks in the Santos basin next year include establishing in advance the compensation to be paid to state-run oil company Petrobras for investments made in the areas and sharing geological data with potential bidders. Energy minister Bento Albuquerque said Thursday the ministry will start holding meetings with firms interested in participating in the new auction after October to discuss information regarding the blocks and other improvements. The areas are part of the transfer-of-rights surplus volumes and were first put out to auction last November but did not garner interest from investors.

Jul 03, 2020 - Reuters

Brazilian state-run power firm Eletrobras could raise more than 14 billion reais (US$ 2.64 billion) with a share offering planned by the government that would reduce its stake in the company to 49%, Chief Executive Wilson Ferreira Jr. said on Thursday. Brazil's government currently owns 63% of Eletrobras, including indirect stakes held by Brazilian development bank BNDES and its equity arm BNDESPar. But President Jair Bolsonaro's administration plans to privatize Eletrobras through a primary share offering, which would reduce state ownership and take the company's control from the government.

Jul 03, 2020 - Bloomberg

For investors in Brazilian stocks, making even in 2020 may be a long shot. With the Ibovespa index ending the first half down 18%, strategists see limited room for gains in coming months. On average, they predict the benchmark will finish the year at 100,000, a Bloomberg survey showed. While that represents a 5% advance from where it stood at the end of June, it’d be the smallest gain for any July-December period in five years. Moreover, it means the market would be still stuck with a loss for the year. The rally that started in March and lifted the Ibovespa 50% is expected to lose some steam. While the central bank has cut interest rates to record lows and locals continued to flock to equities in search of better returns, foreigners remain wary.