BG, Shell Push Brazil Oil, Gas Output To 26-Month High In March
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 5 (Reuters) - Brazil's oil and natural gas output rose to a 26-month high in March as companies such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BG Group Plc made up for stagnant output from state-run oil company Petrobras oil regulator ANP said on Monday.
Brazil produced an average 2.64 million barrels of oil an equivalent natural gas a day (boepd) in March, 13 percent more than the year-earlier month, the highest level since January 2012 and the second-highest monthly result in Brazil's history. The output was owned by 47 companies.
Output in March was up 1.15 percent from February.
After nearly two decades of direct participation in Brazil's oil industry, oil output by foreign companies is starting to make a significant impact on overall production. These companies helped boost Brazilian production and royalty payments even as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as state-run Petrobras is officially known, saw production from older fields decline and it struggled to bring new fields on line.
While Petrobras remained the dominant producer in the month with 2.27 million boepd, its share of total national output slipped to 86 percent from 93 percent a year earlier and from 87 percent in February, according to ANP data and Reuters. Petrobras average daily output in the first three months of the year was the lowest in five years.
Other companies stepped in to fill the gap boosting output to a level less than 40,000 boepd below the January 2012 record of 2.68 million boepd.
Britain's BG Group hung on to its No. 2 producer spot with 70,879 boepd of output in March, 83 percent more than a year earlier and little-changed from February.
No. 3 producer, Norway's Statoil ASA saw output rise more than 10-fold from March 2013 to 47,497 boepd. Statoil Brazil output was 2.5 percent greater than in February.
Brazil's No. 4 producer Shell saw output more than double from a year earlier to 42,726 boepd, 50 percent more than the previous month.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- ExxonMobil Racks Up Discoveries in Guyana Block Eyed by Chevron
- Oil Market Sentiment Has Improved Significantly
- EU, US Eye Collaboration on Nuclear Materials
- USA Driving Activity to Increase to All-Time Highs
- TC Energy to Sell Prince Rupert Gas Pipeline Project to First Nation
- EU Electricity Export to Ukraine Up 94 Percent in Two Years
- China Coal Output Falls for First Time since Government Ordered More
- BP Pulse Buys One of Europe's Largest Truck Stops
- UK CCUS Plans Outdated: Think Tank
- North America Enters Rig Loss Streak
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- EIA Drops 2024 Henry Hub Gas Price Forecast
- EIA and Standard Chartered Offer Up Latest Oil Price Predictions
- Red Sea Region Sees Another Watershed Incident
- Chevron Oil Project in Kazakhstan to Cost $48.5B
- OPEC Voices Encouragement after IEA Affirms Support for Oil Security
- Biden Govt Bares Strategy for Freight Charging, Hydrogen Fueling Infra
- Ukraine Hits Third Russian Refinery In Escalating Drone Strikes
- Rystad Looks at the Buzz Around White Hydrogen
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Is Peak Oil Demand Close?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Reveal Latest Oil Price Forecasts
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Rystad Forecasts Net Production of Top Permian Producers in 2024
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension