The Natural Gas Processing Unit (UPGN), located in the Boaventura Energy Complex (Itaboraí, RJ), has been operating commercially with its first module, which has the capacity to process 10.5 million m³/day. With the start-up of the second module, scheduled for the end of this year, the total processing capacity will be 21 million m³/day.
The Boaventura UPGN will contribute to increasing the supply of the product to the national market, reducing dependence on imports. The natural gas supplied to the unit is raw gas that, after processing, generates at least three derivatives: Natural Gas (NG); Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG or cooking gas); and C5+ (raw material in the petrochemical industry and fuel production).
The natural gas supplied by Petrobras to the market, including that generated by the Rota 3 Gas Pipeline and processed at the Boaventura UPGN, comprises a portfolio focused on the domestic market. In other words, the natural gas produced at the recently inaugurated unit is part of the portfolio of the total volume offered by the company.
“In addition to increasing the flow capacity, the Rota 3 Integrated Project also brings greater flexibility to our activities, since, regardless of the connection point, the gas from the Santos Basin production fields can be drained to the company's various processing units, including the new UPGN at the Boaventura Energy Complex,” explains the director of Engineering, Technology and Innovation, Renata Baruzzi.
The Rota 3 Integrated Project is part of the Santos Basin Integrated Gas Flow System, responsible for the flow of fields such as Tupi, Búzios and Sapinhoá, among others.
Greater supply of gas for the national market
The commercial operation of the Boaventura UPGN is strategic for Petrobras, as it enables greater flow of natural gas from the Santos Basin Pre-Salt, increasing the supply of gas to the Brazilian market.
“The commercial launch of the Boaventura UPGN marks the beginning of an integrated project with high operational complexity, which ranges from exploration to delivery at the UPGN exit, and reaffirms our firm purpose of offering a greater volume of gas to the national market. These are new infrastructures with a capacity of up to 18 million m³/day in outflow, and up to 21 million m³/day in processing, contributing to the country's development and preserving the company's financial sustainability," says Petrobras' Director of Industrial Processes and Products, William França.
"The start of operations of such a relevant project for the gas market is essential for the country and to increase Petrobras' competitiveness in the new dynamic and competitive environment of the national gas market. We have strengthened our portfolio of assets, invested in Brazil and will be able to reduce imports. With this, we were able to offer new commercial conditions to Petrobras customers and increased our supply reliability, which is already practically 100%. Now we will provide all of our energy and the new gas from the Boaventura Energy Complex to distributors and industrial customers interested in sustainable and competitive solutions," adds Maurício Tolmasquim, Director of Energy Transition and Sustainability.
In 2023, Petrobras signed more than 34 natural gas supply contracts, after winning participation in public calls for bids from distributors and competitive processes for free consumers, which represented the sale of more than 70 billion m³ in contracts with sales expected until 2034. In addition, the Company signed instruments with several companies to assess opportunities related to the energy transition.
