Exec: Comgas to add 1,000km to network in 5 years

Brazilian natural gas distributor Comgas expects to expand its 3,600km pipeline network by 1,000km in next five years to keep up with demand, Carlos Brescia, the company's institutional and regulatory affairs director, said in a seminar this week. "The outlook for the gas industry is very good," he said. "There will be abundant supply and growing demand." Comgas is controlled by Britain's BG Group and distributes in Sao Paulo city and the greater Sao Paulo region. The company has announced plans to invest 1bn reais (US$330mn) in the next five years, doubling sales to some 6 billion cubic meters a month (bcm/m) on the back of an expected 112% surge in natural vehicular gas consumption through end-2008 as Comgas expands operations in cities such as Campinas and Santos. The company expects a 100% increase in residential and commercial sales through expansion in Campinas, Santos, Limeira, Americana and the Vale do Paraiba region. Also through 2008, Comgas expects gas sales to cogeneration power plants to rise 22%, Brescia said. Gas volumes supplied to conventional power plants are expected to climb 278% because of the conclusion of turbine conversions to gas at the 472MW Termo Piratininga plant in 2007. Comgas sells natural gas to 4,500 clients in 50 towns. The company's revenue is expected to reach 3bn reais by the end of 2004 from 1.9bn reais in 2003, Brescia said.