Brazil Petrobras Total July Gas, Oil Prod +3.2% Vs Year Ago

With offshore oil platforms returning to production following maintenance, Brazilian energy giant Petrobras (PBR) posted a 3.2% rise in total natural gas and oil production in July against the same month a year ago, the company said Tuesday.

Gas and oil production from both domestic and overseas sites rose 3.2% from July of 2008 to 2.498 million barrels of oil-equivalent, or BOE, per day, the company said.

The company's total domestic oil and gas output in July was 2.254 million BOE, up 2.7% from July of 2008.

Petrobras' domestic production of crude oil in July was 1.938 million BOE, up 3.8% from the same month a year ago.

Overseas, Petrobras enjoyed an 8.5% year-on-year rise in total natural gas and oil output to 243,707 BOE per day, the company said. The increase was due to two new wells in Nigeria.

On the domestic front, Petrobras said production was favored by increased output at the Marlim and Marlim Leste offshore sites in the Campos Basin following completion of routine maintenance at platforms there. link.....