Brazil’s Petrobras sees profit soar on record output

Petrobras, Brazil’s majority state-owned oil company, said Thursday that its profits nearly tripled last year thanks to record oil and gas output. Net profit climbed to $19.6 billion from $7.5 billion in 2024, helped as well by a 14-percent drop in operating expenses and an increase in the value of the Brazilian real, which bolsters Petrobras’s earnings in dollars. The profit jump came even as sales slipped 2.4 percent to $89.2 billion, as total production was up 11 percent, the highest ever for the group.

“Even in a backdrop of a sharp decline in Brent prices, we generated $36 billion in operating cash for the year,” Petrobras chief financial officer Fernando Melgarejo said in a statement. He attributed the growth to the company’s focus on “quality projects that increase production, with high returns and quick cash generation.” The company is aiming to expand its exploration activities to find new fields, including a huge offshore drilling project in the Equatorial Margin, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the mouth of the Amazon River. Brazil granted a license for the project last year despite opposition from environmental activists, and Petrobras had to suspend drilling in January after drilling fluid leaks. Left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has backed the exploration operation despite criticism from activists, arguing that oil revenues are needed to finance Brazil’s energy transition.