Brazil will increase LNG imports if pipeline natural gas supply from Bolivia is interrupted because of political unrest, according to the ANP. Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras confirmed that it was notified by Bolivian state-owned YPFB on 11 November about possible fluctuations in gas supply. Under a contract that expires next month, Bolivia supplied Brazil with an average of 15.33mn cm/d of gas during the first eight months of the year, according to the mines and energy ministry's monthly gas bulletin. During the same period, Brazil consumed 9.19mn cm/d of LNG. The ANP said that while supplies from Bolivia are currently normal, the country's back-up plan includes increased LNG imports as well as the use of alternative fuels.

Nov 18, 2019 - DW.com

Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, ignored pleas from the Green party to scrap a nuclear agreement with Brazil. "Our cooperation in this area has worked well for decades," as Parliamentary State Secretary for the Environment Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) told DW. "There are currently no plans to cancel the agreement." The deal, signed in 1975, pertains to the "peaceful use of atomic energy," that is, the construction of nuclear power plants. It was originally negotiated by Brazil's military dictatorship and the SPD government of Helmut Schmidt.

Nov 18, 2019 - ICIS

Latin America must capitalize on its potential competitive advantage in energy and petrochemical feedstocks, especially as the Mercosur countries open up their economies with an EU trade deal. “The effort from Mercosur in opening up the economy and lowering or eliminating import duties in a period of falling prices is a threat to established industries in South America,” said Antonio Lacerda, senior vice president of chemicals and performance products for BASF in South America. “This will be a major topic in 2020 - on how to balance this while respecting that economies have to be open,” he added. The two key Mercosur countries - Brazil and Argentina - both have huge hydrocarbon resources in the offshore pre-salt fields for Brazil and the Vaca Muerta shale gas formation for Argentina.

Nov 18, 2019 - Cision

New, deep-water production has come online from the Brazilian pre-salt Santos Basin. Shell Brasil and its consortium partners today announced the start of oil and natural gas production at the P-68 floating production, storage, and offloading unit (FPSO), located in BM-S-11A Concession in Berbigão, Sururu and West Atapu. The FPSO can process up to 150,000 barrels of oil and 6 million cubic meters of natural gas daily. Operated by Petrobras, P-68 features ten producing wells and seven injection wells.This new production at P-68 adds to Shell's already prolific deep-water portfolio in Brazil. With the development in Iara, the company is opening a new production frontier in the Pre-Salt.