Brazil’s PRIO Ends 2025 With A Sharp Output Jump And Bigger Peregrino Bet
Key Points
- December production: 155,780 boepd; 2025 average: 106,375 boepd.
- Peregrino drove the jump and most December sales, increasing both upside and concentration risk.
- Operatorship shifted in 2025, making 2026 a test of execution under closer scrutiny.
PRIO (PRIO3) ended 2025 with two truths. The year averaged 106,375 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). December ran at 155,780 boepd, based on preliminary, unaudited operating data.
Peregrino dominated. PRIO’s reported 80% share averaged 82,214 boepd in December, more than half the total. Frade produced 31,671 boepd.
Albacora Leste produced 26,165 boepd on a 90% participation basis. Polvo plus TBMT delivered 15,731 boepd, supported by the POL-GY well, which began producing on December 18 at about 1,500 barrels per day.
PRIO said it sold 4.57 million barrels in December. Peregrino supplied 2.97 million barrels. Frade accounted for 524,500 barrels, Polvo plus TBMT 601,100, and Albacora Leste 477,200. Monthly sales can differ from production because shipments move in cargoes.
The late-year ramp was sharp: 89,584 boepd in October, 138,819 boepd in November, and 155,780 boepd in December. The story behind the numbers is control of a complex offshore machine.
Peregrino is a heavy-oil field in the Campos Basin that has produced around 300 million barrels since 2009, using an FPSO supported by fixed platforms.
In May 2025, Equinor agreed to sell its 60% stake in Brazil’s Peregrino field to PRIO for a base consideration of $3.35 billion, with additional interest payments of up to $150 million; the total transaction value is about $3.5 billion. In November, Equinor said a separate sale of a 40% operated interest had closed and operatorship transferred to PRIO.
Credit markets responded. S&P Global Ratings upgraded PRIO to ‘BB’ from ‘B+’ in November 2025 and said output could reach about 190,000 boe/day by 2026.
But concentration cuts both ways. Brazil’s oil regulator halted a key PRIO unit in August 2025, and Peregrino was reported at 97,500 boe/d in the second quarter. The field’s dominance now exposes PRIO to outsized financial swings, as our reporting has shown: the Peregrino consolidation drove a $185 million net loss in the fourth quarter, with surging depreciation and a foreign-exchange hit on tax balances overwhelming the operational gains.
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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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