Petrobas Plans Production Increase For 2019

Brazilian oil major Petrobas expects to increase output by as much as 6 percent in 2019, as it sees production ramp up in a number of new fields.

The firm reported total production of oil and gas hit 2.63 million barrels of oil equivalent, or Mboe, per day last year, and projects this figure will rise to 2.8 Mboe this year. If successful, the increased output is expected to support a range of additional breakbulk activity with the majority of new production focused in offshore Brazil.

“The production of oil and natural gas in 2018 is in line with the goal established for this year in the company's business and management plan,” a spokesperson for the firm said.

 

4 Production Systems Start Up

Output last year was boosted by the start-up of four new production systems: the P-74 and P-75 platforms, located in the Búzios Field, the P-69 platform, located in the Lula Field, and the FPSO Cidade de Campos dos Goytacazes, in the Tartaruga Verde Field.

“The main highlights of the company's production in 2018 the continuous development of the pre-salt production, which completed 10 years and achieved new records,” Petrobras said.

The four new start-ups represented continued growth for Brazil’s major exploration regions in the Santos and Campos basins. The group also achieved a new annual utilization record, reaching the 96.6 percent mark, following the firm’s optimization program for gas utilization.

 

Petrobas Signs Gulf of Mexico JV

Outside its domestic market, Petrobas also recently signed a joint venture agreement with Murphy Exploration & Production for strategic deepwater development in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We are excited to close this transformational joint venture and form a strategic partnership with Petrobras …We plan to allocate a portion of the cash flow generated by the joint venture to accelerate further high-value oil-weighted activity in our Eagle Ford Shale asset,” said Roger W. Jenkins, CEO of Murphy Oil.

The joint venture deal was signed with Petrobras America for a net cash consideration of about US$795 million.

Photo: Offshore platform Brazil. Credit: Wikimedia