The Smart Contract on Gas Trade: An Exploratory Analysis

Abstract The article presents a new information technology named Smart Contract (SC) as a proposal for automating contract management in today’s natural gas trade. The decision-maker should estimate in advance the impact of this technology for the future. The use of Smart Contract in the actual scenario of the Brazilian natural gas market involves some fundamental factors that encompass the main players of trade: Government, Organization, and Consumer. This article proposes an exploratory approach regarding Smart Contract to understand its attributes since no previous studies with SC have been conducted specifically for the Brazilian gas market. The qualitative methodology was selected because it analyses subjective aspects of the proposed information technology. Analysis included a questionnaire that was answered by two specialists who provided valuable insight into the feasibility of using the SC. I present two possible scenarios using Smart Contract to foster discussion considering the status quo of the Brazilian gas market. The data regarding the constructs was collected using documentary research of the emerging literature on Smart Contract, Blockchain, and the current gas market in Brazil.