MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, posted mixed production figures on Wednesday as the state-run oil company ramps up output at some major oilfields while also jettisoning a number of legacy production assets as part of a wider divestment drive, reported Reuters.
In a securities filing, Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it produced 2.83 MM barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter, up 1.2% in quarterly terms, but down 4.1% from the same period last yr.
Crude production came in at 2.269 MM barrels per day (bpd), a 1.9% increase in quarterly terms and a 4% decrease from the third quarter of 2020.
Among the highlights of the quarter, the company said, was the entrance into operation of the Carioca, a type of massive offshore platform known as an FPSO, in the deepwater Sepia field. The firm also has begun commercially producing gas at its P-69 platform in the Tupi field, Petrobras said.
The company did not offer an explanation for the annual decrease in production. However, Petrobras production numbers have been hit by oilfield divestment in recent years, which have hurt output figures by taking production assets off the books. Maintenance and COVID-19 related stoppages also commonly affect production at Petrobras.
In terms of domestic sales, the company registered strong growth for multiple refined products in both quarterly and annual terms, indicating that an upswing in consumption has continued apace. That is despite high prices which have driven some politicians to question Petrobras' market-based pricing policy.
The company sold 441 MMbpd of gasoline domestically in the third quarter, up 14.3% in quarterly terms and 17.9% in annual terms. Domestic diesel sales came in at 867 MMbpd, up 6.4% from the previous quarter and 15.7% from the same quarter last yr.
As MRC informed before, Petrobras said earlier this monthit had halted talks with Brazilian conglomerate Ultrapar on the sale of the state-run oil company's Refap refinery, part of its program to sell eight plants. The company said it would relaunch the process of selling Refap in the future but did not provide a date.
We remind that in August 2021, Petrobras hired JPMorgan Chase & Co as an advisor to sell its stake in the petrochemical company Braskem SA.
We also remind that Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC