Petrobras Hits Positive Net Profits, New Production Records

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazilian state-owned Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) closed 2023 with positive financial and operational results. The company reported net profits of US$6.3 billion for the fourth quarter and US$24.9 billion for the whole of the year--its second-highest annual results, with the highest being those of 2022.

The fourth-quarter and full-year financial results are about 23% and 32% below those registered in the same period in 2022, respectively. The company attributed this mainly to an 18% drop in oil prices, which was partially offset by higher production volumes and exports.

By the last quarter, Petrobras had reduced its financial debt by US$1.2 billion. More importantly, Petrobras met all its production targets for 2023, hitting an output of 2.93 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d) in the fourth quarter, about 2% higher from the same period in the previous year. For 2023, Petrobras produced 2.78 million BOE/d, about 3.7% more than the 2022 volumes.

The solid output resulted from the incorporation of new offshore platforms and the ramp-up of existing ones. Last year, Petrobras inaugurated the Anna Nery and Anita Garibaldi floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facilities in the Marlim and Voador fields; the Almirante Barroso FPSO at Buzios; and the Sepetiba FPSO in Mero oil field. In addition to that, the company ramped up its output at the P-71 platform in the Itapu field.

Thanks to these developments, Petrobras hit a historical record of 2.33 million BOE/d in pre-salt production in Q4, higher than the 2.25 million BOE/d registered in the third quarter and representing 79% of the total hydrocarbon output.

Petrobras continues to bet heavily on its production expansion, with another 14 offshore platforms planned between 2024 and 2028. Petrobras also has acquired stakes in three blocks offshore Sao Tome and Principe, and another 29 in Brazil's Pelotas Basin, to search for new hydrocarbon reserves and expand its current matrix.

On the downstream front, Petrobras' refining utilization factor was 92% of the overall capacity, which was 4% higher than the same period last year--and the highest since 2014. These numbers emerged despite major scheduled shutdowns in 2023 at the REFAP, RPBC, REDUC and REGAP refineries.

Last year, the company invested US$3.1 billion in its refineries to revamp output, turnarounds and interventions across units. The oil producer is also projecting to boost its refining capacity in the next years through the expansion of Train 1 and the construction of Train 2 at the Abreu e Lima Refinery (RNEST), which will add 145,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) in new capacity.

Industrial Info is tracking more than 250 active and planned projects from Petrobras, totaling more than US$84 billion of investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for a list of detailed project reports.

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