Petrobras Profit Tops Estimates

Brazilian oil producer Petrobras outperformed expectations after supply disruptions stemming from the US-Iran conflict lifted second-quarter prices for crude, gasoline and diesel.

The state-controlled driller’s 93.8 billion reais ($18.4 billion) in adjusted earnings before earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization surpassed the average 91.3 billion reais consensus compiled by Bloomberg. 

The figure was up 80% from a year earlier. Net income for the second-quarter nearly doubled from the same period last year to 52.4 billion reais. Petrobras shares were up 1.3% in Sao Paulo at 10:37 a.m. local time Friday after gaining as much as 2%.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, joins major companies including ExxonMobil Holdings Corp., Chevron Corp. and Shell Plc in reaping bumper profits amid the energy-market disarray wrought by wars in the Persian Gulf region and Russia.

The Rio de Janeiro-based oil giant defied the trend among its biggest rivals that plowed windfall profits into debt reduction, signaling caution over the durability of war-driven gains. 

For its part, Petrobras focused on rewarding investors with $3.4 billion in shareholder payouts. Analysts had forecast $3.1 billion in such outlays. 

Latin America’s biggest oil producer posted record oil and natural gas production for the period as new wells at giant offshore fields lifted output and its refineries ran at unusually high utilization rates, helping shore up domestic fuel supplies. 

Petrobras is selling diesel and gasoline at the refinery gate below the international benchmark, according to Brazilian importers’ association Abicom. The Brazilian government has introduced a combination of tax cuts and subsidies to cushion pain at the pump, and imposed a temporary oil-export tax to help compensate for the measures.  

“Petrobras captured the upside from higher oil prices and crack spreads, even as domestic prices remained mostly below parity in the quarter,” XP analysts led by Regis Cardoso said. XP expects production to keep rising as the P-79 FPSO at Búzios ramps up.