Petrobras announces increase in oil and gas production

Petrobras announced an increase of 3.4 percent in the average production of oil, natural gas liquids (NGL), and natural gas, in the first quarter of this year, compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. The company reached 2.8 million barrels of equivalent oil per day (boed) in the first quarter of 2022. The data are part of the Production and Sales Report released on Wednesday (April 27).

“This result was mainly due to the growing production of the FPSOs [platform ships] Carioca (Sépia field) and P-68 (Berbigão and Sururu fields), located in the pre-salt area of Santos Basin, and the new post-salt wells in Campos Basin,” the company informed.

Two factors have contributed to the positive result: the production in the pre-salt layer hit a monthly record in January 2022 with 2.06 million boed, and a quarterly record with 2.03 million boed has been registered. This volume represents 72 percent of Petrobras' total production, compared to 71 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

The state-owned refineries are being used with a load close to the maximum projected. In March of this year, the company reached 91 percent of the total utilization factor (TUF) of the refining park in the last week of the month. The factor in the first quarter of the year corresponded to 87 percent, remaining at the high level observed in the fourth quarter of 2021, and five percentage points higher than that recorded in the same period in 2021, when there were stoppages in significant production units.

“Petrobras has been producing as much as possible under safe, sustainable, and economic conditions. The definition of the level of use is a technical and economic decision, which takes into account the demand of Petrobras' customers, the global supply alternatives, and oil and derivatives prices," pointed out Petrobras Refining and Natural Gas director Rodrigo Costa.

In the short term, another positive factor for production growth was the conclusion of the interconnection of the Guanabara FPSO, whose start-up period is scheduled for May, in the Mero field, in the pre-salt layer of Santos Basin.

The platform, which is the first definitive one in the field, has the capacity to process up to 180,000 barrels of oil and 12 million cubic meters (m³) of gas equivalent per day. In the first phase, 6 production wells and 7 injection wells will be connected to the FPSO. Mero is the third largest Brazilian pre-salt oil field after Búzios and Tupi.