Petrobras to receive first shale gas cargo to be exported from US

Rio de Janeiro

PETROLEO Brasileiro SA, Brazil's state-owned energy company, is scheduled to receive the first cargo of shale gas to be shipped from the US, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The shipment of liquefied natural gas was agreed to on Monday, said the person who asked not to be identified because the information isn't public. Cheniere Energy Inc has said it will load the first tanker at its Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana by early March. Demand is forecast to be higher in South America during the spring, in part due to a drought that has increased Brazil's dependence on the power-plant fuel. Brazil has increased LNG imports in the past few years after an agreement to buy gas via a pipeline from Bolivia reached its limits.