The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) consolidated the regulatory framework on the production, storage, and commercialization of oil and gas by-products, aimed at reducing regulatory costs and facilitating market entry.
Resolution n.º 852/2021 from the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) unified the regulatory framework on the production, storage, and commercialization of oil and gas by-products, and the provision of services related to its activities, applicable to companies whose operations are authorized by ANP. It stems from Public Consultation n.º 16/2020 (reported in the 17th edition of the Regulatory Report) and seeks to provide clear and simplified regulatory provisions to the sector, as a means to reduce regulatory costs and facilitate market entry.
The new framework covers the oil and gas by-products production activities classified as oil refining (replacing ANP Resolution n.º 16/2010), natural gas processing (replacing ANP Resolution n.º 17/2010), gasoline and diesel fuel formulation (replacing ANP Resolution n.º 5/2012), and production of by-products (e.g., LPG) in petrochemical centers (replacing ANP ordinances n.º 84/2001 and n.º 317/2001).
According to the framework, the construction of new production installations and the modification of existing ones do not require an ANP authorization, so long as ANP is informed of the intended construction or modification, and the applicable ANP rules are observed, as well as the applicable standards from the Brazilian National Standards Organization (ANBT) and the normative conditions from local authorities (article 3 and 4). On the other hand, an ANP authorization procedure is required to commence operation (operation permit), detailed in articles 5 to 15.
The regulatory framework also defined procedures related to capacity tests (article 16); safety-related alterations to installation (articles 17 and 18); alterations to company registration (article 19); rules for the commercialization of oil and gas by-products, including direct sales to final consumers (articles 20 to 25); and rules for the provision of related services to (or from) third-party authorized companies, such as storage, oil refining, natural gas processing, and fuel formulation (articles 26 to 28).
The new regulatory framework consolidated the provisions from 11 normative acts, which were revoked.
