Brazilian state to sell Comgas, separate from new gas areas
18-02-99 The government of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo said that it will sell its Companhia de Gas de Sao Paulo separately from two new gas concessions where the company has not yet invested.
"It has been decided that there will be three concession areas," said state energy secretary Mauro Arce said, referring to the area under Comgas management and the two new ones.
The Sao Paulo government was originally planning on selling Comgas -- the largest Brazilian gas company -- and the new areas in one block.
But the head of the state privatisation program, Deputy Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, said a month ago that a sale in three parts would increase the number of interested buyers since the amount to be invested would be lower.
The government will sell Comgas around April 14 and offer the two concessions within a month of the Comgas sale, Arce told.
The government will hold a public hearing on the Comgas privatisation and will have a decision on how to sell the concessions in a few days, he
said.
Comgas currently distributes gas in the greater Sao Paulo metropolitan area, in the interior cities of Campinas and Piracicaba and in the Vale do Paraiba between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
One of the new concessions will be in the western part of the state, running along the gas pipeline from Bolivia inaugurated recently.
The other will be in the south-eastern portion of the state, bordering with the state of Parana.
