The mantra “all the oil counts” will guide the company’s next strategic plan that will be unveiled in late November, members of the management team told reporters on Monday.
The Brazilian oil giant is looking to revitalize older fields such as those in the Campos basin, where a low recovery rate of 17% “bothers” management, said Magda Chambriard, CEO of Petrobras. The company should finish by early next year studies to refurbish four oil platforms in the Campos basin that would otherwise be scrapped, she said.
At stake is how fast Brazil’s overall production grows at a time oil prices face multiple headwinds. OPEC+ is poised to begin restoring output at a time that demand in China is faltering. Petrobras has the challenge of bringing new projects into production while it tries to contain how fast its older fields go into decline, clouding the outlook for how much growth will come from Brazil.
The International Energy Agency, or IEA, is forecasting Brazil’s production to grow 190,000 bpd next year. Meanwhile Jefferies Financial Group Inc expects production from Petrobras, which operates about 90% of Brazil’s output, to be flat in 2025.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, has managed to accelerate some of its production projects. It will start operations at as many as three floating production vessels before the end of the year, adding 505,000 barrels a day in production capacity that will increase gradually. Some of them, like production vessel Maria Quiteria, were originally expected to start operations in 2025.