Petrobras Q1 Production Hits Record 3.23 Million Barrels per Day

Petrobras Q1 production lands at a moment when the Hormuz crisis has reshaped global oil flows — the company is now the largest non-OPEC supplier capable of redirecting volumes to Asian buyers without exposure to the Persian Gulf chokepoint.

Petrobras posted a record Petrobras Q1 production of 3.23 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2026. The figure beats the same period of 2025 by 16.1% and the fourth quarter of 2025 by 3.7%. The state-controlled company released the quarterly operational report on Thursday, April 30, ahead of its full Q1 financial results scheduled for May 11.

The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, reports that the figure includes both Petrobras’s own production and its share in joint operations. Total operated production hit a separate record of 4.65 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, surpassing the prior record of 4.54 million set in the third quarter of 2025.

What Drove the Petrobras Q1 Production Beat

The headline gain came from four new floating production, storage, and offloading vessels ramping up in parallel. The P-78 at Búzios, the Alexandre de Gusmão at Mero, and the Anna Nery and Anita Garibaldi at the Marlim and Voador fields all contributed incremental volumes during the quarter. The P-78 injected its first gas on March 2, completing commissioning in record time for a Petrobras-operated platform.

The Mero field set its own record after a new producer well was tied into the Alexandre de Gusmão FPSO, with daily output crossing 700,000 barrels for the first time. In Santos Basin, gas exports peaked at 44.8 million cubic meters per day on March 28 — also a record — and Búzios alone exported 12.4 million cubic meters of gas per day on March 25. The pre-salt cluster accounted for 2.19 million barrels per day of crude, equivalent to roughly 68% of total production.

Refining and Sales

The downstream side also tracked higher. Refining utilization reached 95%, with diesel output hitting a record 715,000 barrels per day, up 7.7% on Q1 2025. Production of low-sulfur S10 diesel, the cleaner grade, hit a new high of 512,000 barrels per day.

Domestic sales of refined products rose 2.9% year on year. Diesel sales were up 0.7%, while gasoline sales fell 4% versus the prior quarter at 413,000 barrels per day. Movements through the Santos terminal reached 879,000 cubic meters in March, the highest since the early 2000s, supported by exports of fuel oil and bunker grades.

The Iran War Backdrop

The production beat lands at a moment of acute global supply stress. Brent crude touched US$126 per barrel intraday on April 30 — a four-year high — before pulling back. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial traffic, forcing Asian refiners to rebalance toward Atlantic Basin producers, and Brazilian pre-salt grades have been a primary beneficiary.

The Petrobras Q1 production report does not yet capture the financial side of that demand reorientation, but the volume math points to upside in the May 11 earnings release. Analysts polled by Broadcast had projected Q1 net profit at US$2.51 billion, up 80.5% year on year, before the Q4 2025 results came in at US$1.89 billion. The company has guided for full-year 2026 capital expenditure of US$5.4 billion to US$5.7 billion.

What Comes Next for Petrobras Q1 Production Growth

The P-79 platform, also at Búzios, completed mooring in 12 days after arrival — itself a record for Petrobras-owned units. The vessel has 180,000 barrels per day of processing capacity and 7.2 million cubic meters of gas compression, with first oil expected later in 2026. The Búzios 8 project, which P-79 anchors, will eventually add up to 3 million cubic meters of gas per day to Brazil’s continent supply via the Rota 3 pipeline.

The company is also progressing the Serra Sul +20 project at the Carajás iron-ore complex through its sister company Vale, alongside the broader pre-salt expansion. The Hormuz crisis has reshaped the export calculus, and Petrobras is now positioned as the largest non-OPEC supplier capable of redirecting volumes to Asian buyers without exposure to the Persian Gulf chokepoint. Q1’s record output is the first concrete data point in what is shaping up to be a structural realignment of global oil flows.