Pecém FSRU

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Pecém FSRU is a floating LNG terminal in Ceará, Brazil. The terminal was indefinitely idled at the end of December 2023.

Location

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Project Details

• Terminal Operator: Petrobras
• Terminal Owner: Petrobras
• Vessel name: Energos Winter
• Vessel owner: Energos
• Vessel parent company: Energos
• Location: Port of Pecém, São Gonçalo do Amarante, Ceará, Brazil
  • Coordinates: -3.546667, -38.831389 (approximate)
• Capacity: 3.8 Mtpa, 7 million m³ per day
• Status: Idle (since January 2024)
• Type: Import
• Start Year: 2009

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

Pecém FSRU was a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) located at Pier 2 of the Port of Pecém in Ceará, Brazil. It was the country's first flexible liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal, capable of transferring 7 million cubic meters of LNG per day to the GASFOR (Guamaré-Pecém) Gas Pipeline. The Pecém terminal supplied the Termoceará and Fortaleza power stations.

As of August 2019, the Pecém FSRU was one of three LNG terminals operated by Petrobras on Brazil's Atlantic coast, together with the Guanabara Bay FSRU and the Bahia FSRU; the Petrobras terminals imported LNG from various countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Qatar, Spain and the United States.

In December 2023, Petrobras's contract to operate at the Port of Pecém expired, leaving the LNG import terminal indefinitely idle. In July 2024, Pecém's port authority CIPP SA (70% owned by the state government of Ceará) announced that it would soon begin the process of seeking a new operator for the terminal.

Potential Change in Ownership in 2024

CIPP SA, the company that manages Pecém's port complex, announced in July 2023 that Petrobras's contract for exclusive use of Pier 2 would expire at the end of the year, opening the way for another company to establish regasification operations at the pier. At least two other companies expressed interest in setting up a new LNG terminal in Pecém. Shell, which had a contract to supply gas to Ceiba Energy's 1.6 GW Portocém power station starting in 2026, contemplated forming a partnership with OnCorp to build a 13 million m³ per day regasification plant at the Port of Pecém. Meanwhile, BP was pursuing its own separate plans to develop a Pecém-based LNG hub, with the aim of supplying gas to the 2.2 GW Termopecém power station, as noted in a memorandum of understanding signed with Ceará's state government in early 2022.

Because Pecém is a private-use terminal, CIPP remained free to negotiate a deal with either company starting on January 1, 2024. CIPP's president Danilo Serpa also speculated that there might be sufficient space to accommodate two separate terminals at the port. However, as of July 2024, the Pecém LNG facility remained idle, with its future in limbo.

In August 2024, Ceiba Energy confirmed that it would be sourcing gas for its newly announced 2.43 GW Jandaia power station from a 138,000m³ FSRU with a regasification capacity of up to 750,000 MMBtu/day, docked at the Port of Pecém. Given that the power plant was in the very early stages of development, it was not entirely clear whether Ceiba Energy's FSRU would be docked at the same berth previously used by Petrobras.