Petrobras May Oil, Gas Output Rises To A 27-Month High

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 1 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras said on Tuesday that oil and natural gas output rose to a 27-month high in May as it added new wells in the offshore Campos Basin northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, said production in Brazil and abroad jumped 4.2 percent in the month to 2.61 million barrels of oil and equivalent natural gas per day (boepd) compared with 2.50 million barrels a year earlier.

May output was 2 percent higher than the previous month.

Petrobras said production in Brazil reached an average of 2.39 million boepd, up 2.2 percent on the previous month.

Jose Formigli, Petrobras' head of exploration, described the results as "very good" at an event in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

Preferred Petrobras shares, the company's most traded stock, were down 0.52 percent in late afternoon trading in Sao Paulo.

(Reporting by Jeb Blount; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Reese Ewing; Editing by Bernard Orr and Phil Berlowitz)