By IANS
Rio de Janeiro : Brazil’s state-controlled energy giant Petrobras has said it reached record one-day domestic oil production this week of just under 2.24 million barrels, exceeding the previous mark by more than 300,000 barrels.
The new daily record was set Tuesday, Petrobras chief Sergio Gabrielli said in a ceremony at the company headquarters here, and added that “going past two million barrels is a big deal that few companies in the world do.”
Petrobras’ head of exploration and production, Guilherme Estrella, said the company expects to produce roughly two million bpd in 2008.
The previous daily record was 1.91 million barrels, set in October 2006.
Six new platforms with a capacity of 590,000 bpd or barrel per day have come on stream since then and driven production up to Tuesday’s level, company officials said.
That platform currently contributes roughly 40,000 bpd to the total, but Petrobras expects its output can rise to 180,000 bpd by the second half of 2008.
Petrobras noted an increase in output at its onshore fields, which now account for 230,000 bpd, or 10.28 percent, of the company’s domestic oil production.
Three new oil platforms and a natural gas unit are expected to begin operating in 2008.
Petrobras shares trade on the Sao Paulo, New York, Madrid and Buenos Aires stock exchanges, but the Brazilian government maintains control of the giant firm.