Petrobras will inaugurate the Cabiúnas-Reduc III (Gasduc III) gas pipeline Wednesday. The event will be attended by the president of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. A GAP (Growth Acceleration Program) project, Gasduc III is the biggest gas pipeline in diameter in South America, at 38 inches (equivalent to 96.5 cm), and has the largest transportation capacity (40 million cubic meters per day) of all Brazilian gas pipelines. With these characteristics (diameter and capacity), it surpasses the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline (Gasbol), which measures 32 inches (81.3 cm) in diameter and can transport 30 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.

Gasduc III boosts both the supply flexibility and the transportation capacity to meet the needs of the Southeastern market, the region in Brazil that consumes the most natural gas. In addition to growing the supply to the non-thermal market, with Gasduc III it will be possible to meet the full natural gas supply needs of the Mario Lago (922 MW), Barbosa Lima Sobrinho (394 MW), Leonel Brizola (1,036 MW), and Norte Fluminense (869 MW) thermoelectric plants. Together, these plants have installed capacity to generate approximately 3,221 average MW, enough to provide power to 14 million people.

Strategically located between Macaé and Duque de Caxias (RJ), Gasduc III enhances the transportation capacity in this section from 16 million cubic meters per day to 40 million cubic meters per day. The gas pipeline can transport natural gas produced in the Campos and Espírito Santo basins; the gas imported from Bolivia, which arrives in the state of Rio de Janeiro over the Campinas-Rio and Japeri-Reduc gas pipelines; and the gas coming from the Guanabara Bay LNG (liquefied natural gas) Regasification Terminal. After the Caraguatatuba-Taubaté (GASTAU) gas pipeline has been completed, later on this year, Gasduc III will be able to receive gas coming from the Santos Basin.

Tags: Petrobras