Keywords: ANP, RFP Draft, first round bid

The National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels ("ANP") has commenced the First Bid Round of the Transportation of Natural Gas Activities Concession with the publication, on January 5th 2015, of the RFP Draft, that includes the minutes of the concession contract and the indicative schedule. A successful bidder would be granted a concession ("Concession Contract") for the construction, operation and maintenance of the Transportation Gas Pipeline Itaboraí-Guapimirim in accordance with concession regime, which will connect the Natural Gas Processing Units of the Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex - Comperj to the gas pipeline Gasduc III, in the State of Rio de Janeiro- with an approximate length of 11 kilometers and capacity of 17 million m³/day ("Gas Pipeline") and will be the first gas pipeline to be bid after the enactment of Law No. 11,909/2009 ("Gas Law").

Private or public and national or foreign companies may participate in the bid round, individually or jointly as a consortium. All bidders shall present a Proposal Guarantee of R$ 12.500.000,00.

A successful bid will be the one that, cumulatively (i) presents a financial proposal with the least annual revenue, whose value cannot exceed R$ 20.579.100,00, (ii) provides the requisite technical, legal and financial qualifications demonstrating fiscal and labor compliance and (iii) presents a technical proposal in accordance with the RFP.

The winning bidder must also present a Compliance Guarantee of 30% of the necessary investment for the construction of the Gas Pipeline, effective at least 90 days after the beginning of the commercial operation of the Gas Pipeline.

The Proposal and Compliance Guarantees may be presented as a Guarantee-Insurance or Bank Guarantee.

In order to enter into the Concession Contract, a SPC shall be created with By-laws that adhere to Article 3rd, §3 of Gas Law. In the event that the winning bidder is an individual, the SPC shall be created as one of the types of sole ownership companies existing under Brazilian law.

The concession's duration shall be 30 years, with a possible extension for a further 30 years. According to the minutes of the Concession Contract, the commercial operation of the Gas Pipeline shall begin within 13 months after the date of execution.

In compliance with the new provisions introduced by the Regulatory Decree of Gas Law, the concessionaire shall comply with a 80% local content commitment in connection with the Construction Phase and minimum commitments related to specific items.

The total transportation capacity of the Gas Pipeline (17 million m³/day) will be acquired by Petrobras as the winning Carrier of the Public Calling No. 01/2014, through a Firm Transportation Service Contract to be executed between Petrobras and the Gas Pipeline's concessionaire, in accordance with the Purchase of Transportation Capacity Commitment entered into between ANP and Petrobras.

The period in which parties can enter the bid process commenced on 01/06/15 and ends on 04/10/15. The comments to the draft RFP and Concession Contract can be submitted at anytime up until 02/04/15 and the execution of the Concession Contract shall take place in the second half of 2015. All information related to the bid can be found on the website: http://www.brasil-rounds.gov.br/round_TGas1/portugues_TGas1/apresentacao.asp#.

Originally published on January 8, 2015

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