Prospects and challenges of the liquefied natural gas market in Brazil

Abstract

The liquefied natural gas can overcome current barriers, mainly for natural gas transportation over long distances, enabling global trade and overcoming intercontinental distances. Following this trend, Brazil is entering this global market for liquefied natural gas. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the prospects and challenges of liquefied natural gas for the Brazilian natural gas market through reports from the government and the national industry. It was possible to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of this natural gas supply option within the national matrix through the SWOT analysis. After this, the gravity, urgency, and tendency (GUT) matrix were applied and adapted to classify just one dimension, as the importance of each point of the SWOT. As a result, substantial material was gathered for analysis demonstrating positive and negative characteristics of liquefied natural gas for Brazil, besides the government's view on the subject, which can be useful mainly for the academic, commercial, and industrial.