Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras has set a new production record in the fourth quarter of 2019. The oil giant produced over 3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day which are attributed to the ramp-up of platforms in the prolific pre-salt formation, including the P-67 and P-69 platforms in the Lula field.
According to Petrobras, production in the fourth quarter increased by 5.1 percent when compared to the third quarter and by 13.7 percent, when compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.
In a securities filing, the company revealed that oil and natural gas production in the pre-salt reached 1.533 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter, up by 12.1 percent from the third quarter and up by 46.4 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2018.
On average, Petrobras produced an average of 2.77 boepd in 2019, which is a 5.4 percent increase when compared to 2018. However, Petrobras’ production at onshore and shallow-water fields and deepwater post-salt fields fell sharply, due to divestments and a shift in focus to the pre-salt.
A report published by Rystad Energy last year revealed that Petrobras may soon become the world’s largest oil producer among publicly listed companies by 2030.
According to the report, Brazil’s Petrobras jumped two places from fifth to third in 2019 to become the third-largest oil producer in the world with an output of 2.2 million barrels per day.
Rystad Energy said in a statement that currently, Russia’s Rosneft and PetroChina top the list of the world’s largest public exploration and production companies. However, based on Rystad Energy’s forecasts, Petrobras could overtake PetroChina over the next few months and potentially dethrone Rosneft over the next decade.