Blockchain expands digital governance in the natural gas sector
The technology implemented by Petrobras enhances the precision and scalability of the controller with blockchain use
An article by José Luiz Kugler, professor at FGV EAESP, and Otávio Soares, a specialist in Blockchain for Business, published in GV Executivo magazine, presents the results of the GoGas project research, conducted by Petrobras to modernize digital governance in the natural gas sector.
Most large organizations still rely on legacy systems — outdated technologies, adapted over time, but which have become inflexible, expensive, and incompatible with other platforms. In complex sectors, with multiple agents and decentralized data, such as the energy sector, these systems hinder an integrated and reliable view of operations. This requires the creation of numerous interfaces, which increase the risk of data failures or manipulations, especially in contexts that require real-time control.
In the analyzed case, the expansion of the gas distribution network and the entry of new participants made the processes of data collection, integration, and accounting increasingly laborious and prone to errors. Petrobras faced difficulties in ensuring precision and transparency in a market that moves millions of cubic meters of gas per day and generates, with ICMS alone, about R$ 1.5 billion in monthly taxes.
It was in this scenario that the GoGas project was conceived, prioritized in the 2022 cycle of the Innovation Challenges program. The aim was to ensure the reliability of the measuring and accounting of operations — known in the sector as nominations — and to ensure that gas injections into pipelines occurred in a traceable manner and in compliance with established contracts.
The new solution, based on blockchain, was designed with three main criteria: scalability, to support the growth of operations without loss of performance; flexibility, to integrate multiple agents and contractual rules; and precision, essential to mitigate legal risks and ensure data trustworthiness.
The project positions the use of blockchain as a key element in the digital transformation of controllership and as a reference for sectors dealing with sensitive, distributed, and auditable data.
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