Rio de Janeiro – Oil production increased in Brazil for the fourth straight year to an average 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2017, up 4.2% from the year before. The information is from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), which released 2017 industry numbers this Friday (29).
The hike in output was driven by increased production from pre-salt oilfields, averaging 1.3 million bpd and accounting for some 50% of nationwide production.
Natural gas output averaged 109.91 million cubic meters a day, up 5.9% from 2016. Once again, pre-salt production was a major contributor at 45.3% of all gas extracted in the country.
As a result of increased output, oil imports were down 16.4% last year, to an average 149,200 bpd. Conversely, exports reached an all-time high at 996,600 bpd, up 24.8% year-on-year.
Refining
Despite the stronger oil and gas output, refining decreased in Brazil last year, with total oil product output down 3.7% from 2016 to 1.9 million bpd, which is tantamount to 76.2% of national installed capacity.
Oil product imports were up 26.1% to meet domestic demand, which was 615,700 bpd. Higher international prices led to a 57.5% hike in expenditure on oil product imports.
As for biofuels, ethanol production remained virtually flat, while biodiesel production climbed 12.9%, mostly due to the fact that the rate of addition of biodiesel to regular diesel increased to 8%.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
