Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of the
20035-900 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Federative Republic of Brazil
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes _______ No___X____
Petrobras presents new
prices on gas from Bolivia in order to encourage
consumption
(Rio de Janeiro, December 23, 2003). – PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S/A - PETROBRAS, [Bovespa: PETR3/PETR4, NYSE: PBR/PBRA, Latibex: XPBR/XPBRA], a Brazilian international energy company, announces that is presenting to distributors a new pricing structure on natural gas imported from Bolivia. Effective January 2004, the new prices will be based on incentive prices (with a progressive discount) for additional gas quotas. As a consequence, the more is sold, the lower the price for all consumers.
The goals of Petrobras are to accelerate the development of the natural gas market in Brazil, and provide economical benefits to all the value chain: Producers, transporters, distributors, consumers, and Petrobras itself.
The new policy intends to give the consumers the benefits obtained from the Bolivia gas producers, negotiated in exchange for increasing the imported volume in short-time. Petrobras is also negotiating with the shareholders and creditors of the Transportadora do Gasoduto Bolívia-Brasil (TBG), which is controlled by Petrobras, in order to obtain a short-term decrease in the transportation fee in exchange for increasing the transported volume. The increase on gas consumption will also reduce the financial exposure of Petrobras to the “ship or pay” agreement.
The increase in gas consumption in Brazil will allow the faster monetization of the reserves, which include Petrobras and Bolivia reserves, and will provide a new perspective on using the associated gas produced by the Campos basin, and the Santos basin in the future.
Since January this year, the sales price of the Bolivian natural gas offered by the Company to distributors in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, and Mato Grosso do Sul is US$ 3.36/MMBtu (per million BTUs*).
According to the new pricing structure presented by Petrobras, the sales price for additional consumption quotas will be US$ 2.70/MMBtu. If the sales increase is of 40% or more, the distributor will have a progressive discount on the ceiling price.
If a specific distributor increases their sales by 70% until the end of the next year, the price paid to Petrobras will be US$ 2.79/MMBtu, for all the Bolivian gas purchased, resulting in an additional 17% discount over the current price, or 22% over the contract price. The table below shows examples of average sales prices, according to the percentage increase in sales volume.
Petrobras will negotiate with distributors these long-term incentive procedures, which will be incorporated to the current supply contracts, in order to guarantee a growing competitiveness of natural gas. By doing so, the Company believes to be contributing to the inclusion of natural gas into the Brazilian energy matrix.
(*) 1 million BTUs = 26.8 m3 (cubic meters)
| Example of the New Policy | |||||
| Additional Sale (%) |
Price on Base Volume (USS/MMBtu) | Price on Additional Consume (USS/MMBtu) | Average Price (USS/MMBtu) | Difference on Current Price | Difference on Contract Price (%) |
| 0% | 3,36 | 2,70 | 3,36 | 0 | -7% |
| 10% | 3,36 | 2,70 | 3,30 | -2% | -8% |
| 20% | 3,36 | 2,70 | 3,25 | -3% | -10% |
| 30% | 3,36 | 2,70 | 3,21 | -5% | -11% |
| 40% | 3,28 | 2,70 | 3,11 | -7% | -14% |
| 50% | 3,09 | 2,70 | 2,96 | -12% | -18% |
| 60% | 2,9 | 2,70 | 2,83 | -16% | -21% |
| 70% | 2,86 | 2,70 | 2,79 | -17% | -22% |
| 80% | 2,86 | 2,70 | 2,79 | -17% | -23% |
| 90% | 2,86 | 2,70 | 2,78 | -17% | -23% |
| 100% | 2,86 | 2,70 | 2,78 | -17% | -23% |
http://www.petrobras.com.br/ri/english
Petróleo Brasileiro
S.A – PETROBRAS
Investor Relations Department
Luciana Bastos de Freitas Rachid – Executive Manager
E-mail: petroinvest@petrobras.com.br
Av. República do Chile, 65 - 4th floor
20031-912 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ
(55-21) 2534-1510 / 2534-9947
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PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO
S.A--PETROBRAS | ||
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By: |
/S/ José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo
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José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo
Chief Financial
Officer and Investor Relations Director
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