Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras has scaled its crude oil production up to a new record of 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd), putting it on the same level as Kuwait.
The country has recently developed its offshore pre-salt zone, which boasts oil production costs so low that they rival those of Saudi Arabia. The increase in production was also helped by increasing domestic fuel demand in the country at a time when most countries have consumed less fuel.
According to energy major BP, which owns the Castrol lubricant brand, Brazil is set to continue its increasing demand for energy. Its 2019 Energy Outlook forecasted an average annual increase in global energy demand of 1.2%, compared with almost double that (2.2%) for Brazil. This will eventually bring its per capita energy use in line with the global average.
Fossil fuels will still give way to other sources in the energy mix, however, with hydro, nuclear and renewable sources expected to provide half of the country’s energy by 2040. Nevertheless, BP still expects Brazil to increase its oil production by 70% over the same period, with it reaching 5 million bpd, or about 5% of global production, in 2040.
Last year, Petrobras also began inviting tenders for three more floating production storage and offloading vessels for use in its Buzios field, which is also in the pre-salt zone. It expects the field to be producing about 2 million bpd of crude oil by 2030.
