Brazil's Petrobras oil and gas output rises 3.7% in 2023
SAO PAULO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras' output rose last year to 2.78 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 3.7% from 2022, according to a securities filing on Friday.
Petrobras also said it increased its proven reserves and found hydrocarbons in the first well it drilled in the potentially oil-rich Equatorial Margin.
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Commercial production of oil and natural gas reached 2.44 million boepd, while oil production alone totaled 2.24 million barrels per day (bpd), the company said, attributing the result to last year's ramp-up of four offshore platforms.
The production results are in line with the firm's November projection.
The firm also increased its proven oil, condensate and natural gas reserves by some 3.8% to 10.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent in 2023, from 10.5 billion boe in 2022. Of the total, 84% is oil and condensate, and the rest is natural gas.
Petrobras confirmed it has found hydrocarbons in its first Equatorial Margin well, Pitu Oeste, but said its economic viability was inconclusive.
The well was drilled around 52 kilometers (32 miles) off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte state, at the so-called Equatorial Margin, a potentially oil-rich region that extends along the Brazilian coast from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapa states.
Next month the firm expects to drill a second well, around 79 kilometers (49 miles) off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte and near Pitu Oeste.
Under Petrobras' 2024-2028 strategic plan, the company foresees an investment of $3.1 billion for oil and gas research in the Equatorial Margin, where the company hopes to drill 16 wells during this period.
(Reporting by Andre Romani and Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Rosalba O'Brien)