Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras is negotiating seven new natural gas supply contracts for the coming years, three sources close to the matter said on Monday, as the firm aims to boost supplies while lowering domestic energy prices.

The contracts cover three gas projects, the sources said, and mark the latest push to reduce prices, currently at around $12 per million BTU.

Petrobras declined to comment.

Petrobras is under government pressure to increase local gas production and better control energy costs for consumers, added the sources, who were not authorized to speak to the media about the plans.

The projects require investments of 5.2 billion reais ($1.06 billion) and are seen starting operationsbetween next year and 2028.

One of the projects, known as Rota 3, is expected to offer 18 million cubic meters of gas per day and come online in 2024, the companysaid.

The other two projects are scheduled to begin producing in 2028 and are being developed jointly between Petrobras and other companies. The pair of offshore, deepwater projects are located off the coasts of Sergipe and Rio de Janeiro states. They will feature pipelines with a transport capacity of 16 million to 18 million cubic meters per day.

The new gas supply contracts follow two other deals inked with Companhia de Gas de Santa Catarina, worth about 7.6 billion reais, and with Copergas, worth over 6.7 billion reais.

The new gas projects are unlikely to lead to significantly lower prices, the sources added, since they also involve costly deepwater infrastructure.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Richard Chang)