Brazil announces 10% increase in oil production to stabilize prices

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil will increase its oil production by 10% to help stabilize the international oil market. This was announced by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, at a ministerial meeting at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris.

The Brazilian told the other ministers that the country should increase its production by about 300,000 barrels of oil per day. In January, Brazil produced an average of 3.032 million barrels per day, according to the National Petroleum Agency (ANP). Brazil’s cumulative production in January was 94 million barrels.

At the meeting, Bento Albuquerque said that the energy transition to a cleaner matrix – with less fossil fuels and more renewables – “must go hand in hand with energy security.” The war in Ukraine and the resulting rise in oil prices have reaffirmed the planet’s dependence on fossil – and polluting – energy sources.

According to the IEA, Brazil was the world’s seventh-largest oil producer at the end of 2021, with an average output of nearly 3 million barrels per day.

The ranking is topped by the United States with about 16.6 million barrels per day, followed by Russia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, China and Iraq.

Thanks to pre-salt, Brazil is the largest producer in Latin America, ahead of Mexico and Venezuela – the traditional producers in the region.