Amaral: Petrobras approves cheaper gas for Corumba

The board of Brazil's federal energy company Petrobras has approved a proposal that the price of natural gas supplied to Corumba in Mato Grosso do Sul state should be US$1.40/mBTU instead of the US$3.36/mBTU that consumers elsewhere in Brazil pay, according to senator Delcidio do Amaral. The lower price will increase the feasibility of a power generation plant, a petrochemicals complex and a steel complex, Mato Grosso do Sul state government news service quoted Amaral as saying. Corumba lies close to the Bolivian border and the cheaper prices would be secured by building a direct pipeline to Bolivia rather than taking gas from the main Bolivia-Brazil line, according to previous reports. Details on the industrial projects are sketchy, with reports that local companies Braskem and Copagaz are considering investing a total of US$1bn-1.4bn in a 100MW capacity generation plant and a petrochemicals complex.