The Brazilian state-run oil and gas company Petrobras has suspended the sale of a 90% share in its wholly-owned subsidiary Transportadora Associada de Gás (TAG) in the wake of a suspension ordered by the 5th Federal Regional Court of Brazil in June 2018. The Court ruled that the Brazilian Congress must approve any sales of publicly held stakes in domestic companies or their affiliates.
TAG operates and manages a 4,500-km long pipeline network, located mostly in the North and Northeastern parts of Brazil. The company’s transport capacity is 74.7 mcm/d. It encompasses around 47% of the pipeline extension in Brazil and 26% of the total domestic gas transportation capacity. The assets are regulated by the Brazilian oil and gas regulatory agency, Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP).
The sale process was announced in September 2017 and the non-binding phase started in October 2017. Petrobras was discussing contracts with Engie and two other interested consortia, led by Macquarie and EIG Global Energy Partners with Mubadala. Petrobras aims to sell US$21bn of assets over two years. It already sold US$4.5bn worth of assets in 2017 and planned to sell an additional US$3bn in 2018.