MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil oil and gas production reached 2.78 million barrels equivalent per day

Petrobras remains by far the main producer

Brazilian oil and natural gas output rose 1.89% in May from April to 2.78 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent a day (boepd) as crude output from giant, new offshore fields increased, Brazil's oil agency ANP said on Thursday.

Production fell 0.5% compared with a year earlier, the ANP said in its monthly “Oil and Natural Gas Production Bulletin.”

Brazil's state-led oil company Petrobras remained the principal producer. It was responsible for 2 .24 million boepd, or 90% of Brazil's output in the month. The production figure does not include oil owned by Petrobras partners and produced at fields operated by Petrobras.

Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell overtook Norway's Statoil to become Brazil's No. 2 producer for the first time since March. Shell produced 34,395 boepd of Brazilian output in May.

Brazil's OGX Petroleo e Gas slipped to ninth place from eighth, being overtaken by BP Plc. OGX reached 9,042 boepd day of output 1% less than in April. BP with 9,949 barrels a day was 24% above April.

Production from the so-called sub-salt offshore fields south of Rio de Janeiro rose 4.8% to 171,300 boepd. The extra production came from the Jubarte, Lula, Caratiniga and Barracuda fields.