Brazil’s Oil and Natural Gas Production Breaks Records in May

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s total oil and natural gas production hit record levels in May, the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) said on Tuesday, July 2nd.

The total oil production amounted to 2.731 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, surpassing the previous mark of 2.73 million bpd, achieved in December 2016, representing an increase of 4.7 percent year-on-year, and 4.9 percent compared to April.

Natural gas production totaled 118 million cubic meters/day (m³/day), surpassing the previous record of 117 million m³/day, in October 2018. This represented an increase of 5.4 percent year-on-year and 4.4 percent in April.

Oil and gas production combined, in May there was also a record of 3.474 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) compared to 3.433 million in December 2016, the highest level reached up to that time.

The pre-salt production also reached historical levels, both in volume and in the percentage of total participation, said ANP, recording an increase of 6.4 percent over April and 14.5 percent year-on-year.

Pre-salt production in May accounted for 60.7 percent of Brazil’s total output in the month, with 1.64 million barrels of oil per day and 68.7 million m³/day of natural gas, a total of 2.106 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).

According to ANP, national production came from 7,107 wells, of which 642 were at sea and 6,465 on land.

In May 2019, there were 296 concessions, two onerous assignment areas, and five shared areas, operated by 32 companies, which were responsible for production. Of these, 71 are at sea, and 232 are on land. The Petrobras-operated fields produced 94.4 percent of oil and natural gas.

The Lula field, in the Bacia de Santos, was the largest oil and gas producer, with an average of 910,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) and 39.1 million m³/day of natural gas.