Petrobras May Receive Cargo of North American LNG as Ship Arrives in Brazilian Port

Petroleo Brasileiro SA may receive a spot cargo of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. today, according to ship-tracking data.

The LNG Capricorn, with a capacity of 127,000 cubic meters, is scheduled to arrive at the port of Pecem, Brazil, according to ship transmissions captured by IHS Inc. on Bloomberg. The tanker sailed from the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana where it loaded its cargo, the data show.

Rio De Janeiro-based Petroleo Brasileiro, known as Petrobras, has a floating regasification terminal at Pecem.

Brazil’s driest rainy season in a decade has reduced hydropower supply and boosted the country’s LNG demand, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a Jan. 28 note. Companies exported two LNG cargoes to Brazil in December from supplies held at terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to data from the Energy Department.

A Petrobras official in Houston didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment outside of office hours.

Cheniere Marketing, a unit of Cheniere Energy Inc., sold 53,765 metric tons of LNG to state-owned Petrobras to be loaded onto the LNG Capricorn, the figures showed. The shipment sold for $30 million, the equivalent of $10.72 per million British thermal units, and departed from Sabine Pass on Dec. 1.

Morgan Stanley purchased 59,500 tons from ConocoPhillips for $35.7 million, or about $11.55 per million Btu, the Energy Department figures also showed. The cargo left the Freeport terminal in Texas for Brazil on Dec. 18.

Jean Abiteboul, Cheniere’s London-based president of supply and marketing, confirmed that the LNG Capricorn loaded at Sabine Pass in December in an e-mailed response to questions.