Rio de Janeiro – This Monday (6th), Petrobras’ president Graça Foster said the company’s loss in the second quarter of this year was due to a set of factors which should not happen again in quarters to come. She made the statement while presenting the company’s financial reports to investors.
In the second quarter, the state-owned oil company posted a loss of 1.3 billion reals (US$ 640.5 million). "I am utterly confident in the fact that we will achieve prosperous results throughout the next quarter. This set of factors is not likely to repeat itself, all at once, and with the same magnitude over the next quarters. We are working with dedication to improve the company’s profitability,” said Foster.
According to the president, one of the causes for the company’s loss was sharp depreciation of Brazil’s real against the US dollar, because some of Petrobras’ costs are linked to the latter. There was also an increase in imports of gasoline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet the demand at thermal power stations.
Another factor which contributed to the loss was the fact that fuel prices charged by Petrobras were lagging behind the international market in April, May and June. According to Foster, the 10% adjustment in diesel price and 8% adjustment in gasoline price, made toward the end of June, did not achieve a result in the second quarter, and is expected to start working in the third quarter.
Production was halted at the field of Frade due to a major oil leakage in November last year, which was another contributing factor. Scheduled breaks in production also took place at rigs in the Campos Basin, as part of a project to recover operational efficiency in the area.
"These breaks are needed in order to ensure an increase in output, especially in the fourth quarter of 2012, in a sustainable way. The 2.22 million oil barrel target will be maintained for 2012,” said the president.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
