Petrobras 1Q production gets boost from P-70 ramp-up

Brazil’s state-owned oil major Petrobras had an average production of 2.765 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the first quarter, an increase from the fourth quarter but a decline when compared to the same quarter in 2020.

Petrobras said in a report earlier this week that the average production of oil, NGL, and natural gas in 1Q21 was 2,765 mmboed, an increase of 3.1 per cent in relation to 4Q20. This was due to the continuity of the ramp-up of the P-70 platform in the Atapu field and lower maintenance stoppages in the pre-salt.

In 4Q20, Petrobras had high-impact maintenance stoppages which it was unable to perform due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic in the second and third quarters of 2020. These mainly involved work on the FPSOs Cidade de Itaguaí and Cidade de Mangaratiba in the Tupi field as well as the P-75 and P-77 platforms in the Búzios field.

Post-salt production in the quarter suffered and was down 6.3 per cent than in the previous quarter, due to higher losses with maintenance stoppages, especially FPSO Cidade de Niterói in the Marlim Leste field, P-52 in the Roncador field, P-56 in the Marlim Sul field as well as P-25 and P-31 in the Albacora field.

The output was also impacted by the sale of the portion of Petrobras’ stake in the Frade field in the Campos Basin.

When compared to 1Q20, total production decreased by 5 per cent, mainly due to the divestments concluded throughout 2020 and early 2021 and to the natural decline in production, which was on average 11 per cent in the projects that have already reached their peak production and entered the decline phase.

“Due to the worsening of the pandemic observed in the first quarter of 2021, we, once more, reduced the number of people in our platforms and adopted a differentiated boarding regime, aiming to reduce the daily flow of people with the consequent mitigation of the risk of contamination and the impact on our operations. Despite the continuity of the contingency scenario, we have been able to operate safely and efficiently and to maintain a good performance”, Petrobras said.

Pre-salt production totalled 1.90 mmboed in the quarter, representing 69 per cent of Petrobras’ total production against 63 per cent in 1Q20.

Production in the Búzios field platforms increased by 14 per cent, mainly due to greater efficiency and stabilization of the units. Petrobras also noted an increase in production in the Tupi field due to the end of the ramp-up of the P-67 and in the fields of Berbigão, Sururu and Atapu, with the continuing ramp-up of the platforms P-68 and P-70.

Exports of oil and derivatives fell sharply in the first quarter, in both annual and quarterly terms. The drop was due to a decline in production at the end of the fourth quarter due to maintenance – as previously mentioned.

During the period, Petrobras exported 737,000 boepd, down 13.5 per cent from the fourth quarter and 28.5 per cent from the first quarter last year.

Worth reminding, Petrobras approved an agreement with the government earlier this month for compensation that must be paid to the company in the event of an auction of reserves in the Sepia and Atapu offshore oil areas.

The company also signed agreements with BP to take over the oil major’s entire stakes in six blocks, located in the ultra-deepwater in northern Brazil.