Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque (not pictured), at the headquarters of the Ministry of Energy in Bras?lia, Brazil, April 27, 2022.
(Andressa Anholete/Reuters)
Gram Slattery Gram Slattery and Roberto Samora, Reuters
RIO
EnergiesNet.com 04 28 2022
Oil production at Brazil’s Petrobras rose in the first quarter as additional wells ramped up or came on line, while a new platform set to start pumping in May should help that trend continue, the state-run company said on Wednesday.
In a securities filing, the company said crude production came to 2.231 million barrels per day, up 1.6% from the same period last year and 3.7% from the fourth quarter.
Including natural gas, Petrobras produced 2.796 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 1.1% from the first quarter of 2021 and 3.4% in quarterly terms.
In comments accompanying the figures, Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), as the firm is formally known, stressed the continued ramp up of its Carioca FPSO and P-68 platform, located in the pre-salt, a deepwater formation which has become the center of the company’s efforts in recent years. Average first quarter production at Carioca came in at 127,000 bpd, the company said.
The company also noted that two wells came on line in early March at its Roncador field, adding 18,000 bpd of production. A number of maintenance stoppages in the fourth quarter meant the company had a relatively favorable comparative base, Petrobras added.
In May, Petrobras should start production at its Guanabara FPSO in the Mero field, which will have a processing capacity of 180,000 bpd when fully ramped up, the company said.
Refinery utilization rates came to 87% in the quarter, and some 91% in the last week of March.
Reporting by Gram Slattery in Rio de Janeiro and Robeto Samora in Sao Paulo; Editing by Chris Reese, Christian Plumb and David Gregorio
reuters.com 04 27 2022
