Bahia FSRU

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Bahia FSRU, also known as Madre de Deus Regasification Terminal, TR-BA Regasification Terminal, and FSRU da Bahia, is an operating LNG import terminal in Brazil.

Location

Table 1: Location details

Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Bahia FSRU 4 km west of Ilha dos Frades, São Francisco do Conde, Bahia, Brazil[1] -12.785422, -38.703511 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the terminal:

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Project Details

Table 2: Infrastructure details

mtpa = million tonnes per year
Name Facility type Status Capacity Total terminal capacity Offshore Associated infrastructure
Bahia FSRU import[2][3] operating[4][5][6] 5.6 mtpa[6] 5.6 mtpa True Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Qatar, Spain, United States[7]

Table 3: Cost

Name Facility type Cost Total known terminal costs
Bahia FSRU import[2][3]

Financing

No financing data available.

Table 4: Project timeline

FID = Final Investment Decision, used by some developers to indicate a project will move forward
Name Facility type Status Proposal year FID year Construction year Operating year Inactive year
Bahia FSRU import[2][3] operating[4][5][6] 2014[4][5][6]

Ownership

Table 5: Ownership

Name Facility type Status Owners Parent companies Operator
Bahia FSRU import[2][3] operating[4][5][6] Petróleo Brasileiro SA [100%][4][6] Petróleo Brasileiro SA [100.0%] Excelerate Energy[8][9]

Table 6: Vessel ownership

Name Facility type Status Vessel Vessel owners Vessel operator
Bahia FSRU import[2][3] operating[4][5][6] Excelerate Sequoia[9][10][11][6] Excelerate Energy[9] Excelerate Energy[9]

Background

Owned and operated by Brazilian state oil company Petrobras, the Bahia LNG project consists of an offshore terminal with facilities for mooring a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) Vessel and an LNG Supply Vessel in a side-by-side configuration.[12][13] A 28-inch, 45-kilometer pipeline connects the terminal with two onshore delivery points, São Francisco do Conde Pressure Reducing Station and São Sebastião do Passé Flow Control Station.[12][13] Gas from the terminal feeds into Brazil's national distribution network via the GASENE gas pipeline, a 1387-kilometer network supplying Brazil's Atlantic coast.[14] Construction of the terminal began in 2012 and was completed in early 2014.[15] As of August 2019, the Bahia facility was one of three LNG terminals operated by Petrobras on Brazil's Atlantic coast, together with the Guanabara Bay FSRU and the Pecém FSRU[16]; the Petrobras terminals import LNG from various countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Qatar, Spain and the United States.[17]

In December 2019, Petrobras began accepting bids from private companies for leasing rights to the Bahia LNG Terminal, in accordance with the company's growing prioritization of deep water exploration and production over midstream and downstream operations.[18][19] In March 2021, Brazil's national legislature approved a new gas law making it easier for private companies to access LNG infrastructure, including the under-utilized Bahia terminal.[20][21] As of March 2021, Shell, Trafigura, GasBridge, and Panergy had already been authorized to import LNG through the Bahia terminal.[20] Other companies pre-approved by Petrobras to compete for leasing rights include BP, Total, Repsol, Eneva, Bahiagás, Compass, Gás Natural do Brasil, Excelerate Energy, and Golar Power.[22]

The first two rounds of bidding for leasing rights to the terminal were concluded in July 2020 and March 2021[23], with Golar Power being disqualified after the first round.[13] In June 2021, Petrobras said that it had disqualified Excelerate Energy's bid on a lease for the terminal. In this second attempt by Petrobras to sell the lease, Excelerate was the only company to bid.[24] Excelerate Energy's bid was ultimately accepted, and in December 2021 Excelerate took over operations at the Bahia terminal from Petrobras, becoming the first private company to enter Brazil's gas distribution market following enactment of the country's new gas law.[25][26] Excelerate Energy paid $18.8 million for a two-year lease (through December 2023) and immediately installed its 173 400 m3 Excelerate Sequoia FSRU at the terminal, with a regasification capacity of 5 mtpa.[25][26] In May 2022, Brazil's waterways transport regulator Antaq authorized Excelerate to begin commercial operations at the terminal.[27]

In October 2023, Excelerate announced that it had signed a ten-year charter with Petrobras, which would keep the Excelerate Sequoia operating in Brazil — primarily at the Bahia Regasification Terminal — from January 2024 through December 2033.[28]

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of LNG terminals, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References

  1. https://www.offshore-energy.biz/brazil-petrobras-to-install-lng-regasification-terminal-in-bahia/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20220809052236/https://giignl.org/excelerate-starts-operations-at-bahia-lng-terminal/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 https://brazilenergyinsight.com/2020/09/30/petrobras-on-leasing-of-the-lng-regasification-terminal/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 https://www.igu.org/igu-reports/2025-world-lng-report?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22570706637&gbraid=0AAAAA9kOlQjyt6hUkZGX_RurEkcHXmNXD&gclid=CjwKCAjwi-DBBhA5EiwAXOHsGaWVYYsRaJy3-JGSjWw0q0CXTzrVa1-hCgvxwPR541313mP7dAIk5RoCum0QAvD_BwE. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 https://petronoticias.com.br/terminal-de-regaseificacao-da-bahia-inicia-operacao/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 (PDF) https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/67bdb9fc993751711c5f54fd/685278fda1e68e3b4324e2cf_0432365c1c5b8fb129ae8055cca8cb9b_%23GIIGNL%20-%20Livre%202025-20250610-Simple.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20160406234023/https://petrobras.com.br/fatos-e-dados/mercado-nacional-de-gnl-deve-se-diversificar-nos-proximos-anos.htm. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/lng/120621-excelerate-takes-over-operations-of-brazil-lng-terminal-at-bahia-petrobras. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 https://excelerateenergy.com/news/excelerate-energy-initiates-operations-at-the-bahia-lng-terminal/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. https://excelerateenergy.com/news/excelerate-energy-completes-purchase-of-fsru-sequoia/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. https://excelerateenergy.com/news/excelerate-energy-and-petrobras-sign-10-year-charter-for-fsru-sequoia/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Petrobras on leasing of the LNG Regasification Terminal". Brazil Energy Insight. September 30, 2020.
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Petrobras publica edital de licitação para arrendamento do terminal de GNL na Bahia". Reuters. April 16, 2021.
  14. "Brazil: Petrobras to Install LNG Regasification Terminal in Bahia - Offshore Energy". Offshore Energy. March 1, 2011.
  15. "TERMINAL DE REGASEIFICAÇÃO DA BAHIA INICIA OPERAÇÃO". PetroNotícias. January 25, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. "Terminais de Regaseificação de GNL no Brasil: Panorama dos Principais Projetos (p 6)" (PDF). EPE (Empresa de Pesquisa Energética). August 30, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. "Mercado nacional de GNL deve se diversificar nos próximos anos". Petrobras. March 10, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. "Petrobras inicia arrendamento do Terminal de Regaseificação de GNL da Bahia". Petrobras. December 9, 2019.
  19. "Brazil prepares for a new phase of investments in LNG terminals". LNG Latin America and the Caribbean. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  20. 20.0 20.1 "Brazil's gas market draws growing competition". Argus Media. March 25, 2021.
  21. "Nova Lei do Gás é aprovada no Congresso Nacional". Ministério de Minas e Energia. March 17, 2021.
  22. "Mercado de gás | Doze empresas na disputa pelo terminal de GNL da Bahia". EPBR. August 4, 2020.
  23. "Arrendamento TR-BA". Petrobras. Retrieved 2021-04-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. Petrobras Disqualifies Excelerate's Bid on LNG Terminal, Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT), June 22, 2021 (reporting Reuters).
  25. 25.0 25.1 Fick, Jeff (2021-12-06). "Excelerate takes over operations of Brazil LNG terminal at Bahia: Petrobras". S&P Global.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. 26.0 26.1 "Excelerate starts operations at Bahia LNG terminal". GIIGNL. December 9, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. "Excelerate Energy okayed to operate Brazil LNG terminal". BNamericas. May 24, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. "Excelerate Energy and Petrobras Sign 10-Year Charter for FSRU Sequoia". Excelerate Energy. 2023-10-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)