ANP Opens 45-Day Consultation to Force Gas Sales and Curb Petrobras’s Market Share

Overview

• ANP directors unanimously opened a 45-day public consultation on August 7 to put the gas‑release draft resolution into formal review and to hold public hearings based on an approved regulatory impact analysis.
• The draft requires ANP‑run annual auctions from 2027 through 2030 with the first leilão scheduled for August or September 2027 and expressly bars using Petrobras’s own production volumes to meet the program.
• ANP’s technical team cites roughly a 59% average Petrobras share in gas sales and control of processing and transport as the reason the agency says forced cessions will widen the pool of commercializers and improve price formation.
• Petrobras says market concentration has already fallen to about 56%, argues that title transfers alone will not raise supply or cut prices, and has said it will submit formal comments to the consultation while warning it may reassess projects if the rule is adopted.
• Next steps include the 45‑day comment period, public hearings and a 2030 regulatory results review that will determine whether the program continues changes or is adjusted, and stakeholders should watch how auction design and volume rules shape prices and investment plans.