Comgás – Companhia de Gás de São Paulo – is a national natural gas distribution company, classified by the Brazilian Association of Gas Distribution Companies (Abegás) as the largest in its segment, especially when it comes to the amount of gas supplied.
The main activity developed by the company is the distribution of piped gas, which goes to customers in the automotive, cogeneration, commercial, industrial, thermoelectric, and residential sectors in the city of São Paulo. Among the segments served by the company, the residential sector stands out the most.
In São Paulo, Comgás has a network of over 17 thousand kilometers, supplying about 90 municipalities. In total, the company reaches 2 million customers, including over 1 billion customers in buildings, 16 thousand commercial customers, and more than 17 thousand vehicle conversions for the use of CNG as fuel.
On the stock exchange, the company has common and preferred shares, CGAS3 and CGAS5, respectively, as well as shares in the fractional market, under the codes CGAS3F and CGAS5F.
The history of Comgás began in the 19th century and, since then, the company has gone through various names and numerous owners. Starting with the English company San Paulo Gás Company, which received, in 1872, authorization from the Empire for the exploration of the concession of public services related to the lighting of São Paulo.
In 1912, the Canadian company Brazilian Traction Light and Power Co. Ltd took control of San Paulo Gás Co. Ltda. In 1959, the company was nationalized and, as a result, began to be called Companhia Paulista de Serviços de Gás.
The name Comgás was only established in 1968, when the company began to be managed by the municipality of São Paulo. In the same year, the public limited company Companhia Municipal de Gás (Comgás) was established through municipal law 7199.
In 1974, there was again a name change, where the company began to be called Companhia de Gás de São Paulo. In 1984, Companhia Energética de São Paulo (CESP) took control of the company.
A few years later, in 1999, the control of Comgás was acquired by a consortium formed by the merger of the companies BG Group and Shell, for the amount of R$ 1.65 billion.
In 2017, the control of the company was taken over by Cosan, which bought the stake from the BG Group. Shortly after, in 2017, Cosan acquired the 16.77% stake that Royal Dutch Shell has in Comgás.
Until reaching natural gas production, Comgás used, throughout its history, various types of combinations to produce fuels. The adoption of natural gas began in the 1990s, a phase considered the most important for the company.
