SEAP Gas Pipeline

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The SEAP Gas Pipeline, known locally by its Portuguese name Gasoduto SEAP (Sergipe Águas Profundas), and formerly known as Gasoduto SEAL or the SEAL Gas Pipeline, is a proposed natural gas pipeline off the Atlantic coast of northeastern Brazil.

Location

The proposed pipeline would run west from the offshore post-salt fields of Brazil's Sergipe-Alagoas (SEAL) Basin to a connection with the Carmópolis-Pilar Gas Pipeline (part of the TAG pipeline system) in Sergipe state.

The exact location of the pipeline's onshore terminus has varied over the course of the project's development. The pipeline was originally described as extending to the Atalaia Natural Gas Processing Unit in Aracaju; more recent reports have placed the pipeline's western terminus further north, near Petrobras's Carmópolis gas hub or at Japaratuba.

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Project Details

• Operator: Petrobras
• Parent Company: Petrobras
• Capacity: 18 million cubic meters per day)
• Length: 128 km to 131 km
• Diameter: 18 inches
• Status: Proposed
• Start Year: 2029
• Cost: R$2.3 billion

Background

Original SEAL project proposed in 2018

In 2018 Petrobras announced its intention to develop a pipeline to transport gas from deepwater fields off the coast of Sergipe state. An early version of this project, known as the SEAL pipeline, appeared in a 2019 government study of potential offshore pipelines. As announced in the 2019 government report, the project was to comprise an 106-kilometer, 24-inch pipeline with an estimated development cost of R$ 3.1 billion (3.1 billion Brazilian reais) and the capacity to transport 20 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from the post-salt fields of the Sergipe-Alagaos basin to an onshore gas processing facility on the coast of Sergipe state. The main proposal, known as SEAL-A, would bring gas to the existing Atalaia Natural Gas Processing Unit in Aracaju, Sergipe. An alternative proposal, known as SEAL-B, called for transporting gas to a new, larger processing facility to be constructed near the port of Sergipe.

A November 2021 update of the Brazilian government's offshore gas infrastructure plan continued to list both variants of the SEAL pipeline as active projects, noting that they were both still in the "initial studies" phase.

In June 2022, Petrobras and the government of Sergipe agreed to jointly seek long-term contracts with power plants and other industrial customers who would purchase gas from the SEAL pipeline. However, Petrobras offered no projected commissioning date or other details about the pipeline.

A fossil gas infrastructure expansion study released in December 2022 by the Brazilian government listed the SEAL pipeline as one of six high priority pipelines to be developed during the 2022-2032 period.

Renaming and further development of the project (now known as SEAP)

In 2023 and 2024, the Brazilian government published several reports renaming the project as SEAP (Sergipe Águas Profundas, or Sergipe Deep Waters). As of February 2024, Petrobras was soliciting bid proposals for two FPSOs (floating, production, storage, and offloading vessels) associated with the offshore oil and gas blocks that would feed the pipeline.

A March 2024 Brazilian government report showed modified dimensions for the pipeline, which was now described as comprising 131 km of 18-inch pipe, with at least 104 km running offshore and 23 km on land. The pipeline was to be fed with gas from the Cavala, Agulhinha, Agulhinha Oeste, Palombeta, Budião, Budião Sudeste e Budião Noroeste offshore fields. Gas would be processed via an offshore processing unit, thereby allowing a direct connection with Brazil's onshore gas transport network.

Throughout 2024, Petrobras encountered difficulties in attracting charterers for the FSPOs associated with the project, forcing the company to postpone the bidding deadline three times due to lack of offers. In late 2024 Petrobras adopted a BTO (build/transfer/operate) model for the project, which would allow Petrobras to directly finance the project and thus alleviate the credit crunch affecting European and Asian banks.

In December 2024, ANP (Brazil's National Petroleum Agency) rejected Petrobras's first development plan for the project, citing insufficient information about the FPSOs, which had not yet been put out to tender.

In August 2025, Brazil's national energy research agency EPE approved a modified version of the development plan, affirming that the new technical analysis provided by Petrobras had demonstrated the pipeline's compatibility with existing infrastructure, and recommending authorization of its construction.