The Brazilian state-owned oil major Petrobras' (NYSE:PBR) oil production dropped in the second quarter due to divestments along with an increase in work stoppages. The company's refinery utilization rate, however, was at a high of 97%.
In a recent securities filing, PBR mentioned that its crude production came to 2.114 million barrels per day (bpd), down by approximately 5.2% from the previous quarter and 5% from the year-ago period. During the period, the natural gas output came at 2.653 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down 5.1% quarterly and annually.
The decline in output is due to the sale of 10% of its stake in the Sepia and Atapu fields to a pair of Chinese state-run companies, China National Offshore Oil Corp and China National Offshore Development Corp. The firm also concluded a smaller divestment to Brazilian oil independent 3R Petroleo Oleo e Gas.
Per the company, production in the second quarter was also affected by an increase in maintenance stoppages. The oil major characterized the output decline as being in line with expectations and also stated that it was not revising its 2022 production guidance of nearly 2.6 million boepd.
Two of the major platforms, the P-68 and the Carioca FPSO, continued to augment production, with the output commencing in the Guanabara FPSO. The Carioca FPSO reached an average production of 155 thousand bpd in the second quarter, with the P-68 reaching full capacity, which allowed the unit to reach 152 thousand bpd, with an average production of 130 thousand bpd for the given period.
At the end of June, Petrobras' refineries were running almost full tilt at 97%. Quarterly utilization rates came in at 89%, up 2% quarterly and 14% annually.
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras S.A. is the largest integrated energy firm in Brazil and one of the largest in Latin America. PBR's activities include the exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trading and transportation.
Petrobras currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Some other similar-ranked stocks from the energy space that warrant a look include Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET), CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) and Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO).
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVR Energy's 2022 earnings has been revised 47.7% upward over the past 60 days.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VLO's 2022 earnings stands at $20.92 per share, up about 644.5% from the year-ago earnings of $2.81.
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