Petrobras meets all 2021 production goals
Petrobras announced today (Nov. 9) it met all output targets set for 2021, with a series of records—among which pre-salt production, with a yearly average of 1.95 million barrels of oil equivalent, 70 percent of all of the company’s production.
“Our pre-salt production has been growing quickly and the record stands at twice the volume we produced five years ago down in this layer,” said Production Development Director João Ritterschaussen.
On August 23 last year, FPSO Carioca—the first platform in the Sépia field, on the Santos basin—started its production. In 2021, three new production wells were connected, and now operated production is upwards of 130 thousand barrels of oil a day.
On July 18, 2021, oil rig P-70, in the Atapu field, yielded 161 thousand barrels of oil a day with four production wells, surpassing the project’s nominal capacity.
An all-time high was also reported for gas use—97.2 percent of the gas produced. The performance is believed to contribute significantly to slashing carbon emissions and boosting efficiency.
The Búzios field
September 1 last year saw the signing and beginning of the co-participation agreement for the Búzios field, which regulates the co-existence of the lease and the shared lease surplus contracts on the field. Petrobras was given 90 percent of the exploration and production rights of surplus volumes—the slice for firm Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) excluded—and 92.666 percent of the volumes from the shared field. Created in 2013 and linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, PPSA is active on three fronts: sharing and production deals, oil and natural gas trade, and government representation.
On December 17, 2021, Petrobras acquired the exploration and production rights of the volumes exceeding the lease on the Atapu and Sépia fields and exercised its right to serve as operator, with 30 percent of the winning contract for Sépia. On Atapu, the consortium will be operated by Petrobras, with 52.5 percent ownership.
As the shared production regime in Atapu and Sépia is expected to start in May 2022, Petrobras’s equity interests on the shared fields—the slice for the lease and concession deals included, the percentage for PPSA excluded—are brought to 65.69 percent for Atapu and 55.30 percent for Sépia.
Commitment
In the view of the oil giant’s Exploration and Production Director Fernando Assumpção Borges, “the magnitude of these results show the commitment of Petrobras with meeting its targets, as well as its focus on assets in deep and ultra-deep waters, which have displayed great competitive potential, producing low-cost, high-quality oil with low greenhouse gas emissions.”
Petrobras further reported 8.5 percent growth in the sales of by-products from 2020, with special attention given to the surge in gasoline, diesel, and kerosene for aviation, chiefly due to a strong impact on sales caused by the pandemic of the novel coronavirus in 2020, coupled with lower imports of gasoline and diesel by third parties in the two years, expanding the company’s market equity.
Another by-product playing a major role in total sales was fuel oil, whose sales grew in 2021 from the year before following a higher demand for use in thermal stations.
Petrobras also posted a yearly record in the sales and production of S-10 diesel in 2021, which ensures better environmental and economic results for users. The increase in the sales of diesel S-10 reached 34.7 percent, up ten percent in production.
