BRAZIL DATA: August crude oil, natural gas output tops 6 million boe/d for first time

Brazil's crude oil and natural gas production soared to fresh record highs in August, topping 6 million b/d of oil equivalent for the first time ever amid growing output from offshore subsalt production sharing fields, the National Petroleum Agency, or ANP, said Oct. 1.

Oil companies operating in Brazil pumped an average of 6.002 million boe/d in August, an increase of 2.6% from the previous record of 5.851 million boe/d set in July, the ANP said in its latest production report. That was the third consecutive record month for total hydrocarbons output. August's production also jumped 18.1% from 5.084 million boe/d in August 2025.

Production growth continued to be driven by the ongoing ramp up of recently installed floating production, storage and offloading vessels installed at the Buzios and Mero production sharing fields since October 2024. State-led oil company Petrobras and its partners have installed six new FPSOs over the past two years. That includes the FPSOs P-78 and P-79 at Buzios, which pumped first oil on Dec. 31 and May 1, respectively.

In addition, Petrobras has upgraded equipment and adjusted systems onboard FPSOs that has allowed the company to boost output beyond installed capacity, according to the company. That's added about 200,000 b/d of additional production capacity in recent months, which would be the equivalent of a new FPSO.

Oil output led the gains in August, jumping 2.6% to a monthly record of 4.615 million b/d that topped the previous record of 4.498 million b/d set in July, the ANP said. August also represented the third-consecutive month of record oil production. August's oil output also climbed 18.5% from 3.896 million b/d in August 2025.

Subsalt fields continued to dominate Brazil's production profile in August, accounting for 82.6% of the country's total oil and gas output, the ANP said. The offshore frontier also is home to Brazil's top 30 production wells, with every well producing more than 39,500 b/d.

Subsalt fields produced 3.842 million b/d and 177.6 million cu m/d, or 4.959 million boe/d, from 203 wells in August, the ANP said. That was up from 3.728 million b/d and 173.7 million cu m/d, or about 4.821 million b/d of oil equivalent, from 203 wells in July.

The Buzios and Mero fields remained Brazil's top oil and natural gas producers, respectively, in August, the ANP said. Buzios produced 1.172 million b/d in August, up from 1.113 million b/d in July. Mero, meanwhile, pumped 48.9 million cu m/d in August, down slightly from 49.1 million cu m/d in July.

The FPSO Almirante Tamandare installed at Buzios was the top oil-production platform in August at 258,401 b/d, down slightly from 263,178 b/d in July, the ANP said. The FPSO Sepetiba installed at Mero was the top gas producer at 12.97 million cu m/d, replacing the FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias also installed at Mero that produced 13.6 million cu m/d in July.

Petrobras was the country's top oil and gas producer in August, with output of 2.756 million b/d and 134.8 million cu m/d, the ANP said. Shell was second at 403,830 b/d and 23.2 million cu m/d, while government subsalt management company PPSA was third at 320,587 b/d and 2.6 million cu m/d.

PPSA manages the federal government's share of output from offshore production sharing fields.

Gas production record

Brazil's natural gas production also soared to a fresh record high in August after maintenance work and an intervention on the Route 3 export pipeline was complete, the ANP report showed. Gas output has soared since the November 2024 startup of the Route 3 pipeline and a new gas treatment plant at the Petrobras-operated Energias Boaventura complex.

Oil companies produced a record 220.6 million cu m/d in August, an increase of 2.7% from 214.9 million cu m/d in July, the ANP said. That topped the previous record of 217.3 million cu m/d set in June. August's gas output also climbed 16.8% from 188.9 million cu m/d in August 2025.

A majority of Brazil's gas output, however, continued to be reinjected by oil companies to manage reservoir pressures at offshore fields, the ANP report showed. Oil companies injected 126.9 million cu m/d in August, which left 69.4 million cu m/d available for commercial sale.

Oil companies also flared, or burned off, 4.2 million cu m/d in August, down from 4.7 million cu m/d in July and 4.9 million cu m/d in August 2025, the ANP said. Flaring had increased in recent months amid adjustments to gas-processing systems onboard recently installed FPSOs.