New Fortress Energy Inc., (NFE), New York, reported on Aug. 11 that it has executed two Gas Supply Agreements with subsidiaries of Unigel Participações (Unigel) to supply natural gas to the Unigel Agro-BA and Unigel Agro-SE nitrogen fertilizer plants located in the Brazilian states of Bahia and Sergipe, respectively. The agreements also include an option to supply Unigel’s chemicals facility in Candeias, state of Bahia, Brazil.
Proquigel Química SA, a unit of Unigel, agreed to lease the Bahai and Sergipe plants from Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), Rio de Janeiro, in 2019 (GM Nov. 22, 2019). The ten-year leases were fully secured in 2020 (GM Aug. 14, 2020), and production started this year (GM Jan. 29, p. 1; April 16, p. 1).
In total, NFE expects to supply Unigel with up to 41 Tbtu of natural gas annually (equivalent to approximately 1.4 million gallons of LNG per day) for a five-year term beginning in first-quarter 2022.
“We are excited to become the strategic gas supply partner of Unigel, one of the premier industrial companies in Brazil,” said Wes Edens, NFE Chairman and CEO. “This partnership demonstrates the value our LNG import terminals will provide to customers in Brazil as we bring affordable, reliable energy supply and support industry throughout Brazil.”
The supply of gas from NFE’s Suape and Sergipe LNG terminals in Brazil’s northeast will connect Unigel’s operations to the global LNG and natural gas markets, as well as significantly reduce pipeline transportation charges.
“We believe that this five-year term agreement with NFE will provide a more reliable, stable operation for our plants in the long run, which is key to improve our competitiveness and solidify our commercial presence in Brazil,” said Roberto Noronha Santos, Unigel CEO.
Unigel said its fertilizer plants are capable of producing over 3,000 mt/d of urea in total.