Six floating platforms anchored above the seabed off Rio de Janeiro are now doing what most oil-producing nations need an entire onshore infrastructure to achieve. This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Latin American news and financial markets.
Petrobras’s Búzios field crossed one million barrels of oil per day in late 2025 — and the Brazilian state giant used that momentum to close the year with the highest production figures it has ever reported.
Fourth-quarter total output reached 3.11 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 18% from the same period of 2024.
Oil production in Brazil alone hit 2.5 million barrels per day, a 20% annual jump driven by ramped-up floating production vessels in the Santos Basin pre-salt.
For the full year, Petrobras averaged 2.99 million boed — surpassing its own guidance and beating the previous record set in 2023 by a wide margin.
The surge was powered by new platforms deployed in 2024 and 2025. The Almirante Tamandaré FPSO at Búzios peaked at 240,000 barrels per day, making it the highest-producing single platform in the country.
Petrobras boosts output and export reach
The P-78 vessel, launched on the last day of 2025, pushed Búzios’s installed capacity to roughly 1.15 million barrels daily. Meanwhile, the Marechal Duque de Caxias FPSO at the Mero field hit its peak, and several other units continued ramping up across Jubarte, Marlim and Voador.
But the production story is only half the picture. Petrobras posted record exports of 1.24 million barrels per day in Q4, a nearly 80% leap from a year ago.
China took more than half of all Brazilian crude shipments, up 22 percentage points year-on-year, while India’s share climbed to 12%. The company said it is actively diversifying its buyer portfolio, expanding sales to South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and the European market.
On the refining side, the quarter was less spectacular. Domestic fuel sales dipped 1.8% from Q3 to 1.77 million barrels per day, and refinery utilization dropped to 89% from 94%, dragged down by scheduled maintenance shutdowns. For the full year, domestic sales edged up just 1.6%.
The outlook for 2026 points to more of the same trajectory. Petrobras has guided for total production of 3.1 million boed and oil output of 2.5 million barrels per day, with at least one more FPSO — the P-79 at Búzios — expected to start production by August.
The company’s broader 2026–2030 business plan targets peak output of 3.4 million boed by 2028, backed by $111 billion in planned investments. With financial results due on March 5, the question now shifts from whether Petrobras can produce enough barrels to whether oil prices will reward the effort.
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