Brazil’s Petrobras set a new oil exports record of 1 million bpd in April, as domestic demand plunged, the state-controlled oil firm said on Monday, days after a large group of other oil producers, OPEC+, began a 9.7-million-bpd collective cut aimed at rebalancing the market.
Brazil is not part of the OPEC+ group and hasn’t pledged formally any cuts.
Petrobras set its previous oil export record back in December 2019. Back then, the company exported 771,000 bpd of oil.
From January to April, China was Petrobras’s top export market, with 60 percent of all oil sales.
The company is following the international situation closely and is assessing all markets, Chief Refining and Gas Natural Officer, Anelise Lara, said in a statement. Petrobras expects to continue its good exports performance, thanks to the recovery of demand in China, Lara added.
While Petrobras is boasting record oil exports, it has reduced its oil production in response to the low oil prices. In early April, Petrobras set its April oil production target at 2.07 bpd, after having reduced production by 200,000 bpd.
“The company continues monitoring the market and, if necessary, will make new adjustments always ensuring safety conditions for people, operations and processes,” said Petrobras, the largest producer in the South American country, which not part of the OPEC+ group.
Petrobras has also started shutting down production at 62 offshore platforms in the shallow waters off its coast, Reuters reported in mid-April, adding that the cuts will amount to 23,000 bpd.
Days before the production cuts at the OPEC+ group formally began on May 1, Petrobras said that it had reversed the cuts announced in early April, opting for “the gradual return to an average oil production level of 2.26 MMbpd in April alongside an increase in the utilization factor of our refineries,” due to better than expected demand for its products.
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