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Transport and storage
Legal framework
What is the general legal framework governing the transportation and storage of oil and gas resources in your jurisdiction?
Articles 53 and 56 of Law 9.478/1997 (the Petroleum Law) provide that any company or consortium of companies organised under Brazilian law, whose headquarters and management are located in Brazil, can obtain an authorisation or concession from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) to transport and store oil and gas in Brazil. The ANP enacted rules in this regard, including:
- ANP Resolution 52/2015, which regulates the construction, expansion and operation of installations for the transportation of oil and its by-products, natural gas, biofuels and other products regulated by the ANP; and
- ANP Ordinance 170/2002, which regulates the transportation of oil and its by-products, natural gas, biofuels and diesel.
When it comes to the transportation of gas through pipelines, Law 11.909/2009 (the Gas Law) and Decree-Law 7,382/2010 provide for the following granting regimes:
- the concession regime, preceded by ANP auctions, which applies to pipelines of general public interest; and
- the authorisation regime, which applies in cases of transportation pipelines that involve international agreements, as well as those involving the specific interest of a single final user.
Both concessions or authorisations can be awarded for a 30-year period.
Transportation
How is cross-border transportation of oil and gas resources regulated?
As mentioned above, the Petroleum Law and the Gas Law provide that any company or consortium of companies organised under Brazilian law, whose headquarters and management are located in Brazil, can obtain an authorisation or concession from the ANP to transport oil and gas for both internal supply and importation and exportation purposes.
With specific regard to the transportation of gas through pipelines, whenever international agreements are involved, such as in cross-border transportations, the Gas Law provides that the interested party must obtain authorisation from the ANP to perform such activity. The same law establishes that the price for the transportation of natural gas through pipelines constructed after the enactment of the Gas Law must be proposed by the transporter and approved by the ANP. Further, any expansion, construction or operation of international pipelines must receive prior approval from the ANP, on a favourable opinion issued by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Are there specific provisions governing marine and ground transportation of oil and gas resources?
Please refer to the first question of this section.
Construction and infrastructure
How are the construction and operation of pipelines, storage facilities and related infrastructure regulated?
According to ANP Resolution 52/2015, the construction, expansion and operation of gas pipelines can be performed with the ANP’s authorisation, which will be issued in the following two-step licensing process:
- First, a construction licence will be issued, which the developer must request from the ANP on presentation of, among other documents:
- an environmental installation licence issued by the environmental authorities;
- a summary of the installation project;
- plans of the installation area;
- technical data (including engineering and control procedures as well as operational conditions);
- compliance certificates relating to the installation project; and
- the project’s financial timetable, containing the implementation steps, as well as detailing the main costs of each phase of the project.
- Second, an operation licence will be issued, which must be requested on presentation of an environmental operation licence and relevant commission certificate.
ANP will analyse the documents within 90 days for construction licence requests and 30 days for operation licence requests.
What rules govern third-party access to pipelines and related infrastructure?
Access to oil and gas transportation pipelines and related infrastructure is governed by the Gas Law and the Petroleum Law, as well as ANP regulations. Under these rules, the transporter must allow third parties non-discriminatory access to the available or idle transportation capacity of a pipeline. The transporter must inform the ANP of such capacity. Accordingly, the party interested in having access to the pipeline must enter into a transportation agreement with the transporter, which shall be duly and previously registered with the ANP. Such agreement must contain information regarding, among other things:
- the types of service;
- the terms and conditions thereof;
- the contracted transportation capacity;
- pricing; and
- timeframes.
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