Multicriteria analysis of natural gas destination in Brazil: An application of the TODIM method

This article approaches the problem of selecting the best option for the destination of the natural gas reserves recently discovered in the Mexilhao field in the Santos basin, Brazil. The aims of the study reported here were: (1) to create a mechanism which assists in the process of analyzing and selecting the best options for the destination of natural gas; (2) to enable the decision agents to choose the investment options best aligned to the expectations and objectives observed in the company strategies; and (3) to permit the decision agents the identification in the most systematic, clear and wide-ranging manner, new opportunities in which they act or are interested in acting, taking into consideration a larger and more diversified base of the principal aspects which influence the choice or recommendation. The multicriteria analysis employed in the study made use of the TODIM method, a discrete multicriteria method based on Prospect Theory. The application of the TODIM method demonstrated that it can be extremely useful when recommending options for upstream projects, owing to the fact that it can clearly identify the most important alternatives in the face of the scenarios tested and in relation to the criteria expressed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.