Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR, PETR4.BR), or
Petrobras, said late Monday that domestic crude-oil output dipped
slightly in November, despite record production from massive new oil
fields.
Domestic crude-oil output slipped 0.1% to 1.957 million
barrels a day, down from 1.959 million barrels a day in October,
Petrobras said. Production in Brazil's pre-salt region, where billions
of barrels were discovered trapped under a thick layer of salt, rose to a
fresh record of 339,100 barrels a day in November, Petrobras said.
Petrobras continued to see crude-oil production undercut by
ongoing maintenance of aging offshore platforms. In November, three
platforms in the Campos Basin were shuttered as the company attempted to
boost output from mature oil fields in the region. The Campos Basin
accounts for more than 85% of Brazil's crude production.
The maintenance shutdowns were partially offset by new wells
connected at the Marlim and Marlim Leste fields, as well as the start of
a long-term well test at the Lula Extremo Sul presalt field, Petrobras
said. Petrobras also started output from the newly installed P-63
platform at the Papa-Terra field on Nov. 11.
Petrobras also has three recently completed platforms that are
either on the way to their new homes or being installed, the company
said. The P-55 platform, one of Brazil's largest offshore production
units, is undergoing final preparations to start output of up to 180,000
barrels a day at the Roncador field. The P-58 platform, meanwhile, is
being anchored at the Parque das Baleias field, while the P-62 platform
started its trek to the Campos Basin on Monday, Petrobras said.
Petrobras should start to see production rise in the coming
months as output is ramped up at the new platforms and at several others
that were installed earlier this year, but the company will still
likely fall short of its 2013 production target of 2.02 million barrels
of oil a day. Through November, Petrobras's average daily output for
2013 was 1.928 million barrels a day.
Natural gas output jumped 8.3% month-on-month in November as
maintenance work was completed at the Merluza and Mexilhao offshore
fields. Domestic natural gas output was 61.3 million cubic meters a day.
Total crude-oil and natural gas production was 2.54 million
barrels of oil equivalent, or BOE, in November, up from 2.52 million BOE
in October, Petrobras said.