BRAZIL · ENERGY
Key Facts
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 75.0 points (October 2026 edition).
- What is happening Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, said on Tuesday, 3 November, that its P-78 platform hit its 180,000 barrel a day peak on Saturday, 31 October.
- Why it matters P-78 serves Búzios, Petrobras’s largest field, and the deep offshore pre-salt layer now supplies 83% of all the oil and gas Brazil produces.
- The numbers Brazil produced a record 6.116 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in September, up 1.9% from August, including 4.708 million barrels of oil, up 20.3% in a year.
- Who is who The ANP is Brazil’s national oil regulator, and CNOOC and CNODC are Chinese state oil companies that are Petrobras’s partners at Búzios.
- What to watch Two more platforms, P-80 and P-82, are heading to Brazil and are due to start production in 2027, toward a plan of 12 platforms at Búzios.
- What it means for you Petrobras shares trade in New York as American depositary receipts, and more Brazilian crude adds to global supply that shapes oil prices.
Brazil produced more oil and gas in September than in any month on record. A new Petrobras platform has also reached full speed.
Petrobras, Brazil’s state oil company, said on Tuesday, 3 November, its P-78 platform is at full capacity, 180,000 barrels a day. The peak came on Saturday, 31 October, as a new well, BUZ-100, started flowing at the Búzios field.
The news follows record September output from the ANP, Brazil’s National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels. Its preliminary data put output at 6.116 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, a unit that adds gas to oil.
What P-78 Delivers at Búzios
P-78 is a floating production unit, or FPSO, a ship that pumps oil from the seabed and stores it. It is the seventh such unit at Búzios, a pre-salt field in the Santos Basin about 180 kilometres (110 miles) offshore.
The unit began operating on 31 December 2025 with a nominal capacity of 180,000 barrels a day. Petrobras now says it has reached that level, helped by a reservoir nearly 500 metres thick in that area.
Sylvia Anjos, Petrobras’s exploration and production director, said rock quality, reservoir thickness and high-API oil favour strong flow. Engineering director Renata Baruzzi said each new platform builds on lessons from earlier ones.
Petrobras has said Búzios passed 1.2 million barrels a day this year, a field record. It operates the field with Chinese state firms CNOOC and CNODC and with PPSA, the state-owned firm that manages production-sharing contracts.
A Record Month for Brazilian Oil
The ANP puts September output 1.9% above August, when Brazil produced about 6.0 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. Oil alone reached 4.708 million barrels a day, up 20.3% from September 2025.
Natural gas reached 223.8 million cubic metres a day, up 17.5% in a year. The pre-salt layer, deep reservoirs under a thick crust of salt, produced 5.1 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.
That is 83.4% of the national total and 2.9% more than in August. The 180,000 barrels a day from P-78 equal about 4% of Brazil’s September oil output.
What Comes Next at Búzios
Petrobras plans 12 platforms at Búzios in all. P-80 and P-82 are due in 2027, P-83 is planned and a twelfth unit is in tender.
What It Means for US Readers
Petrobras shares trade in New York as American depositary receipts, which let US investors hold foreign stock. Higher output does not set earnings by itself, because profits also depend on oil prices, taxes and spending.
More Brazilian crude adds to global supply, one force behind the oil prices US drivers and refiners pay. Related Rio Times reports include Petrobras Oil Rises 12.4% in Record Quarter and Brazil Fuel Subsidies Face an Oil Price Test.
More is on the Brazil hub and in the Brazil economy guide. The Brazil explained guide covers who holds power.
What Is Not Known
The ANP’s final bulletin of 3 November may differ slightly from the preliminary figures used here. No figure is available on how long P-78 can hold its peak, on output by company or on September oil exports.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the P-78 platform?
P-78 is a floating production unit, called an FPSO, at Petrobras’s Búzios field off Brazil. It reached its 180,000 barrel a day capacity on 31 October, Petrobras says.
How much oil does Brazil produce?
Preliminary national data put September output at 4.708 million barrels of oil a day, up 20.3% in a year. Including gas, output was a record 6.116 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.
What is Brazil’s pre-salt?
The pre-salt is a group of deep offshore oil reservoirs under a thick layer of salt. It produced about 83% of Brazil’s oil and gas in September.
Does this change US oil prices or Petrobras stock?
P-78’s output is about 4% of Brazil’s oil, so the effect on world prices is small. Petrobras shares also depend on oil prices, taxes and spending.
Sources: Petrobras news agency, P-78 announcement of 3 November 2026; ANP, monthly oil and gas production bulletin, September 2026 data; Petrobras, start of P-78 production, 2 January 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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