LNG

Petrobras Disqualifies Excelerate's Bid on LNG Terminal

The sole bidder for the Bahia liquefied natural gas regasification terminal in Brazil was turned away for noncompliance of tender rules.

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Excelerate Energy has until 28 June to appeal its disqualification.

Petrobras has disqualified Excelerate Energy’s bid related to the Bahia liquefied natural gas (LNG) regassification terminal. The Brazilian state-run oil company said in a statement on its website that the move to disqualify Excelerate was the result of the contractor not complying with the rules of the tender to lease the Bahia LNG Regasification Terminal. Petrobras did not give details on which rules were violated.

“Excelerate presented all the necessary reports and declarations for the acceptance of the envelope containing its commercial proposal in the terms of the call for tender,” Petrobras said in a statement on its website. “The Bidding Commission verified that this was a proposal linked to the inclusion of a new termination condition, even though the company had signed the Unified Declaration, expressly stating acceptance of all the tender protocol’s terms. Given the opportunity to remove the additional condition, the company maintained its position.”

Excelerate, the only company to bid on the lease, offered to pay roughly R$3 million ($597,729) per month for 30 months, or a total of R$92.1 million, according to Reuters. Excelerate has until 28 June to appeal the decision.

The Bahia regassification plant consists of an island-type pier with all the necessary facilities for berthing and mooring a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) directly to the pier and a supply ship on the FSRU's port side. The transfer of LNG is directly between the FSRU and the supply vessel in a side-by-side configuration. The FSRU is not part of the leasing process.

The pipeline integrating the terminal is 45 km long and 28 in. in diameter, connecting the regasification plant to two delivery points, the Pressure Reduction Station of São Francisco do Conde and the Flow Control Station of São Sebastião do Passé.

Also included in the scope of the transaction are the equipment for generation and supply of electricity located at the Madre de Deus Waterway Terminal, part of the terminal.