RIO DE JANEIRO, May 20 - Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N) said on Wednesday its domestic oil production slipped 0.8 percent in April to 1.98 million barrels per day compared with 1.99 million in March.
The slump ends a series of output increases that have consistently taken Petrobras production to new levels as it begins pumping crude from reserves buried beneath a layer of salt miles below the surface of the ocean off Brazil's coast.
"This difference of 16,000 barrels per day (compared to March) is principally due to planned stoppages at the platforms P-12 (Linguado), P27 (Voador) and P-53 (Marlim Leste)," the company said in a statement.
Production outside Brazil rose by around 8,000 bpd to 134,000 bpd compared with the previous month, taking Petrobras' total production in April, including natural gas liquids, to 2.09 million bpd.
Production reached a new high in March thanks to new wells that came online. A union strike that forced concessions in pay and working conditions did not affect output, according to the company.
Shell (RDSa.L) on Wednesday said it expects in August to begin output at the BC-10 Block known as Parque da Conchas -- a deep-water operation but not one of the subsalt projects.
The company will install a 100,000-bpd capacity platform there but has not yet determined what the actual output will be, a company official said.
In May, Petrobras began its first production at the massive offshore Tupi field that contains some 8 billion barrels of oil.
It plans to invest $174 billion by 2013 as part of broad plan including development of Tupi and other subsalt discoveries from the little-explored Santos Basin, south of the Campos Basin where most of Brazil's oil is currently pumped.
During a visit to China this week, Petrobras signed a loan-for-oil deal that will secure $10 billion in financing in exchange for around 200,000 bpd of oil supply to China during the next decade. [ID:nPEK268985]
The slump ends a series of output increases that have consistently taken Petrobras production to new levels as it begins pumping crude from reserves buried beneath a layer of salt miles below the surface of the ocean off Brazil's coast.
"This difference of 16,000 barrels per day (compared to March) is principally due to planned stoppages at the platforms P-12 (Linguado), P27 (Voador) and P-53 (Marlim Leste)," the company said in a statement.
Production outside Brazil rose by around 8,000 bpd to 134,000 bpd compared with the previous month, taking Petrobras' total production in April, including natural gas liquids, to 2.09 million bpd.
Production reached a new high in March thanks to new wells that came online. A union strike that forced concessions in pay and working conditions did not affect output, according to the company.
Shell (RDSa.L) on Wednesday said it expects in August to begin output at the BC-10 Block known as Parque da Conchas -- a deep-water operation but not one of the subsalt projects.
The company will install a 100,000-bpd capacity platform there but has not yet determined what the actual output will be, a company official said.
In May, Petrobras began its first production at the massive offshore Tupi field that contains some 8 billion barrels of oil.
It plans to invest $174 billion by 2013 as part of broad plan including development of Tupi and other subsalt discoveries from the little-explored Santos Basin, south of the Campos Basin where most of Brazil's oil is currently pumped.
During a visit to China this week, Petrobras signed a loan-for-oil deal that will secure $10 billion in financing in exchange for around 200,000 bpd of oil supply to China during the next decade. [ID:nPEK268985]
