Petrobras Hits Record Oil Output Ahead of Q2 Results

Earnings · Brazil

The Petrobras Q2 2026 results land after the market closes in São Paulo on Thursday. Half the story is already public — and that half is a record.

A quarter of records in the water

Petrobras (B3: PETR4; NYSE: PBR) put out its production and sales report on 28 July. Own output averaged 3.34 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.

That is the highest in the company’s history. It sits 3.4% above the first quarter and 14.1% above the same months of 2025.

Oil and natural gas liquids came to 2.69 million barrels a day on their own. Pre-salt fields supplied 2.30 million of them.

P-79 started up at Búzios on 1 May, three months early. On 26 June the field’s platforms averaged 1.2 million barrels a day, another record.

Exploration kept pace. Petrobras confirmed a fresh oil find in the Campos Basin in July.

Efficiency did as much work as new steel. Better uptime across the fleet added 70,000 barrels a day against the same quarter last year.

Counting the shares belonging to its partners, Petrobras operated 4.87 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. That is a record too.

Refineries running flat out

Downstream told the same story. Refinery utilisation reached 101.2%, an all-time high that beat a record standing since 2014.

Oil products output rose to 1.92 million barrels a day, up 10.9% on the year. Diesel S10 and jet fuel both set quarterly records.

The effect on Brazil’s trade balance is real. Oil product imports fell to 67,000 barrels a day, the lowest quarterly figure on record.

Crude imports dropped to 89,000 barrels a day, the least since the pandemic. Exports, meanwhile, climbed towards a million barrels a day.

What analysts want to see in the accounts

Brent is the swing factor. It averaged US$117.29 a barrel in April and US$107.14 in May, on US Energy Information Administration data.

By June it had eased to US$85.40. A year earlier those same months ranged between US$64 and US$71.

That gap is why the market is braced for a far bigger quarter.

XP forecasts adjusted EBITDA of US$17.6bn and net income of US$8bn. Itaú BBA sees US$18.4bn of EBITDA, Bradesco BBI US$18bn to US$19bn, and Goldman Sachs US$17bn.

On the payout, XP and BBI both pencil in about US$3bn. Itaú BBA expects US$3.1bn and Goldman Sachs US$3.4bn.

One item could dent the cash flow. Petrobras is still owed money under the federal diesel subsidy, and those payments have been arriving in instalments all year.

The company confirmed on 22 July that a further R$1.7bn (US$337m) had landed, covering the second half of May. Cumulative receipts stand near R$6.4bn (US$1.27bn), converted at the central bank’s 5.05 average for the quarter.

A third gas find off Colombia

Three days before results day, Petrobras and Ecopetrol struck gas at the Sandia-1 well in Colombian deep water. It sits in block GUA-OFF-0, some 42 kilometres offshore in 1,251 metres of water.

Petrobras operates the block with 44.44% through its Colombian branch, alongside Ecopetrol on 55.56%. Sandia-1 lies 18 kilometres from the Sirius wells and nine from Copoazu-1.

Drilling began on 12 June and reached final depth on 29 July. The gas-bearing zones are still being read through well logs, with laboratory work to follow.

For Colombia the timing matters, with domestic fields in decline and imports rising. For Petrobras it is growth outside Brazilian waters, next to its US$11bn bet on a gas hub in Sergipe.

At home the gas market is being prised open as well, with auctions meant to cut industrial prices by more than half. Cheaper molecules on both sides of the continent would suit Petrobras.

Why this matters beyond Brazil

Petrobras is the heaviest industrial name on the Brazilian exchange. Its quarter is read across the region as a gauge of the energy cycle.

Its Colombian partner has already shown its hand. Ecopetrol’s second-quarter profit jumped 235% to US$1.88bn on the same oil rally.

Brazil votes in October, and Petrobras dividends are never far from politics. Whatever the board declares on Thursday evening will be weighed in Brasília as closely as on Faria Lima.

Background: Braskem Bond Tender Rejected Amid $9.4B Debt Crisis.

More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Petrobras report its Q2 2026 results?

Petrobras releases its Q2 2026 financial results after the Brazilian market closes on 6 August 2026. A results webcast follows on 7 August at 11:30 in Brasília.

How much oil and gas did Petrobras produce in the second quarter?

Own production averaged 3.34 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, a company record. That is 14.1% above the same quarter of 2025 and 3.4% above the first quarter.

What dividend is Petrobras expected to declare?

Analysts surveyed by InfoMoney expect ordinary dividends of roughly US$3bn for the quarter. Estimates run from US$3bn at XP and Bradesco BBI to US$3.4bn at Goldman Sachs.

What has Petrobras found in Colombia?

Petrobras confirmed gas at the Sandia-1 well in block GUA-OFF-0, some 42 kilometres offshore in 1,251 metres of water. It operates the block with a 44.44% stake alongside Ecopetrol.

Sources: Petrobras 2Q26 results schedule (SEC Form 6-K, 7 July 2026); Petrobras 2Q26 Production and Sales Report (SEC Form 6-K, 29 July 2026); Petrobras confirms new gas discovery in Colombia (SEC Form 6-K, 3 August 2026); Petrobras diesel subvention instalment (SEC Form 6-K, 22 July 2026); US Energy Information Administration, Europe Brent spot price; Banco Central do Brasil, PTAX reference rate; InfoMoney analyst preview, 29 July 2026.

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