Oil Production in Brazil up 5.5% in 2020 over 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Oil production in Brazil increased 5.5% in 2020, according to the Monthly Oil and Gas Production Report, released February 2nd by the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP). Accumulated growth has reached 17.1% since 2016.

The release also reports that natural gas production increased 4.1% over 2019, and has grown 23.1% since 2016.

The report published yesterday by ANP includes data on the month of December and all of 2020. Average oil production in the country reached 2.94 million bpd (barrels per day) in 2020, while natural gas reached 127 million cubic meters per day. In 2016, Brazil produced an average of 2.51 million oil barrels and 104 million cubic meters of gas per day.

The state of Rio de Janeiro accounted for 79.3% of national oil production and 55.8% of natural gas production, the highest percentages since 2016. In that year, 66.9% of oil and 43.8% of the country’s natural gas came from Rio.

São Paulo holds the second largest share in both cases, with 9.1% for oil and 15% for gas. In percentage, São Paulo production lost ground over 2016, when it accounted for 11.2% for oil and 15.4% for gas.

After taking the lead in 2018, the Santos Basin increased its advantage in 2020, when it reached 66% of oil production and 67.3% of gas production in the country.

December

Despite the annual increase, oil production fell in December, down 1% from November and 12.2% from December 2019. As for natural gas, there was a 0.5% increase compared to November and 7.8% compared to December 2019.

The fields operated by Petrobras, with or without partners, accounted for 93.7% of Brazilian oil and natural gas production in December. When only the fields with exclusive state-owned participation are considered, the percentage stands at 38.3%.

Total pre-salt deepwater production in December represented 69% of national natural gas and oil production. In December 2020, there was an increase of 0.3% compared to November and 8.4% compared to December 2019.

According to data of the last month in 2020, Brazilian production mostly came from offshore fields, responsible for 96.7% of oil and 81.5% of natural gas.

Nevertheless, if all areas responsible for national oil and gas production in December are considered, 62 are located offshore and 206 are onshore. Of the 6,489 producing wells in the country, 499 are offshore and 5,990 are onshore.

According to ANP, 2.8% of Brazilian oil production in December is considered light oil, 91.3% medium oil and 5.9% heavy oil.

Source: Agencia Brasil