Petrobras announces that, in March, total oil and natural gas production in Brazil averaged 2,247 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). Including the share operated by the company for its partners, total production was 2,345 thousand boed, down 2.8% compared to February.

Total volume produced by Petrobras in Brazil, plus the company's production abroad, averaged 2,486 thousand boed, 2.8% lower than the previous month.

In March, Petrobras' exclusive oil production (oil plus Natural Gas Liquids – NGL) in Brazil was 1,846 thousand barrels per day (bpd), down 3.8% when compared to February. Including the share operated by the company for its partners in Brazil, this volume reaches 1,900 thousand bpd.

Scheduled stoppages and other deviations

The production decrease was primarily due to the scheduled stoppages in Campos Basin platforms P-9, PCE-1 and FPSO-Espírito Santo (Parque das Conchas, operated by Shell) and the continued scheduled stoppage of P-54, initiated on February 27th, which had a greater impact in March.

This difference in production was partially off set by the continued ramp up of FPSO Cidade de Itajaí, in Baúna field, and FPSO Cidade de Anchieta, in Baleia Azul field.

Natural Gas Production

Natural gas production – excluding liquefied natural gas – from Petrobras fields in Brazil amounted to 63,619 thousand cubic meters, up 1.2% when compared to February. Total natural gas production in Brazil, including the share operated by the company for its partners, was 70,663 thousand cubic meters per day.

International Production

Total international production was 239,416 boed, down 1% from February. Of this total, 147,908 barrels of oil per day were produced, with a 0.8% decrease when compared to the previous month.

International natural gas production amounted to 15,547 thousand cubic meters per day, 1.4% lower than February's production. The decrease was due to a lower demand for Bolivian gas.

Information to the Brazilian National Agency for Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP)

Total production reported to the ANP was 8,855,334.25 m³ of oil and 2,306,060.508 thousand m³ of natural gas in March 2013. This volume corresponds to the total production of the concessions where Petrobras is the operator. Shale, NGL and third party production where Petrobras is not the operator are not included.