ANP Requires Third-Party Access to Brazil's LNG Terminals

Overview

• Brazil’s oil and gas regulator unanimously adopted a rule that obliges LNG terminal owners to grant negotiated, non-discriminatory access to third parties under Article 28 of the Gas Law.
• The resolution makes owners’ right of preference time-limited and subject to periodic review so that initial investment remuneration is protected without permanently blocking market access.
• Terminal owners and interested users must submit a Code of Conduct and Practice of Access for ANP review within 90 days of the rule’s entry into force, and those codes cannot be self-published without prior agency approval.
• The rule requires public disclosure of contracted and idle capacities, services offered and existing contracts, and creates mechanisms to free up unused terminal space for other suppliers and users.
• The change targets a sector long concentrated among a few operators — Brazil has seven coastal LNG terminals with combined handling capacity reported at up to 126 million m³ per day — and could lower entry barriers and raise market predictability over time.