Petrobras sets oil production record in December

Federally run oil giant Petrobras set a monthly production record in December, averaging 1.5 mm bpd, a 6 % increase over the month before, the company said. The bulk of the oil was produced in Brazilian fields, but some 39,000 bpd came from fields Petrobras operates in Colombia, Angola, Argentina, the United States and Bolivia, the company said.
The company experienced its highest ever single day production record on Dec. 27, when its wells drew up 1,568,000 barrels. Petrobras said three new platforms in operation since Dec. 16 boosted oil production by 78 mm bpd. Almost 40 mm barrels come from one 1,212 meters-deep (4,000 feet-deep) well in the Marlim Sul field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, making it one of the world's most productive offshore oil wells.

Brazil currently imports about a quarter of the 1.8 mm bpd of oil it consumes. The government hopes Petrobras' increasing deep-sea oil extraction will help the country become independent from oil imports by about 2005.