Brazilian Oil Production Down

According to an AP report, Brazil's domestic oil and natural gas output dipped in September due to problems with offshore drilling rigs in the Campos Basin, the state-run oil company Petrobras indicated recently. Combined oil and gas equivalent last month fell 2 percent from August and 1.1 percent compared to September 2006, Petroleo Brasileiro SA said in a statement. The combined production averaged 2,035,183 barrels a day last month, it said. The problems in the oil rigs in the Campos Basin near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's richest oil-producing region, have been resolved, and production is expected to rise, Petrobras indicated without specifying what the problems were. Two new rigs in the Campos Basin, each with a capacity of 180,000 barrels a day, will come on line by year's end, the company stated. Another mobile rig off the coast of Espirito Santo state, north of Rio de Janeiro, is expected to produce up to 100,000 barrels a day. On April 21, Brazil started production on the huge P-50 rig, symbolizing the country's drive for oil self-sufficiency. Brazil consumes about 1.85 million barrels a day. But the country still imports light crude oil for refined products it needs, while it produces and exports mostly heavy crude oil. [Source: AP]