EPE's studies regarding the Natural Gas supply and Infrastructure sectors include price projections, domestic and international supply, demand and supply balance of natural gas and simulation of the transmission pipelines network, among others.
Regarding the supply, the natural gas processing units (UPGNs in Portuguese) that comprise the existing processing infrastructure are evaluated, as well as the planned and indicative expansions in the horizon of the planning studies. Specific studies are carried out about processing technologies, including projections on the supply of dry natural gas and its derivatives in UPGNs, and on unconventional sources of natural gas, such as methane hydrates. Estimates of the price of natural gas processed in UPGNs are also carried out, regarding each type of exploratory environment: onshore or offshore, associated or not with oil.
EPE carries out studies about the international transmission pipelines that allow the imports of natural gas by Brazil, focusing on the natural gas industry of neighboring countries, such as Bolivia, allowing for the analysis of the perspectives of importing natural gas from these countries in the planning horizon, as well as import prices. The perspective on the evolution of the international LNG market is also considered, evaluating the current and projected prices for LNG import by Brazil in the planning horizon. Estimates of the building cost of new regasification terminals are also made, in addition to evaluating the possible impact of these terminals on the pipeline network.
With regard to the expansion of transmission infrastructure, EPE publishes the studies related to Expansion of the Pipeline Transmission Network in the Country, containing technical, economic and socio-environmental assessments on the existing transmission pipeline infrastructure and alternatives for expanding this network.
Besides the thermofluid-hydraulic simulations of the transmission pipeline network to assess possible infrastructure bottlenecks and indicative expansions in existing gas pipelines, are also carried out detailed estimates of capital cost (CAPEX) and operational cost (OPEX) of pipelines, allowing for feasibility analysis of the projects studied.
