Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, expects oil production to improve in the second half of 2013 as new platforms come onstream and fresh wells are connected, the company's exploration and production director said Monday.
Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR),
or Petrobras, expects oil production to improve in the second half of 2013 as
new platforms come onstream and fresh wells are connected, the company's
exploration and production director said Monday.
Four new oil-production platforms will start up in the second half of the year,
joining four other platforms already installed earlier this year that are
currently ramping up operations, Petrobras's Jose Formigli said during a
conference call with analysts.
Petrobras will also connect 36 new wells to existing platforms in the second
half of the year, more than double the 15 wells added in the first six months
of 2013, that will boost production capacity by 440,000 barrels per day, Mr.
Formigli added.
The new platforms and wells will help offset natural production declines and
Petrobras's oldest oil fields, Mr. Formigli said. Output in the
Campos
Basin
,
where more than 85% of
Brazil
's
crude oil is produced, are declining at a natural rate of 10% per year, the
executive added. Crude oil production has declined over the past two years as
Petrobras shut down aging platforms at its oldest fields for maintenance work.
Petrobras, meanwhile, continues to search for ways to minimize imports of
gasoline and diesel to meet domestic demand, said Jose Carlos Cosenza, director
of the company's refining division. Petrobras was able to reduce imports of the
two fuels in the second quarter from the first quarter, opting instead to
process more crude oil into the two fuels at the company's refineries, Mr.
Cosenza said.
A weaker real against the U.S. dollar during the second quarter, however,
caused domestic fuel prices to remain above international benchmarks, Mr.
Cosenza said. The real lost 10% against the greenback during the quarter amid
expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon end its easy money policies. The
move partially offset increases to local gasoline and diesel prices implemented
earlier this year, Mr. Cosenza said.
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