Brazil’s state-owned energy firm Petrobras said its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports have reached a record high in 2021.
The firm said LNG imports hit 23 million cubic meters per day, a rise of about 200 percent when compared to the previous year.
Petrobras said the previous record volume was in 2014, when it imported 20 million cubic meters per day of LNG.
Besides imports, it reached a daily regasification record last year by supplying 42 million cbm per day of regasified LNG in June. The firm also broke a record with ship-to-ship (STS) LNG operations.
During the last year, LNG represented around 30 percent of Petrobras’ total portfolio of natural gas supply, being essential to meet the demands contracted by its customers, it said.
Brazil has turned to LNG to fuel its power plants due to a severe drought that has considerably affected hydroelectric power in the country.
Petrobras imports LNG via its FSRU-based terminals in Bahia, Guanabara Bay, and Pecem from countries such as the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, and Qatar.
It also leased the Bahia facility to Texas-based floating LNG player Excelerate Energy.