Sabrina Craide and Vitor Abdala          Reporters Agência Brasil

Brasília – The president of Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, Jose Sergio Gabrielli, says that the recent reduction in petroleum and gas production was caused by more rigorous inspections and controls on the part of watchdog agencies. Gabrielli cited the Navy, Ministry of Labor and the National Petroleum Agency as responsible for the suspension of operations on oil rigs that reduced output.

“Nowadays controls are properly more strict. But that means you have more stoppages,” said Gabrielli.

Petrobras has just announced that its production of petroleum and gas in July was 2.78% less than in June. The company reported maintenance (“manutenções operacionais”) on rigs in the Marlim field (P-20, P-35 and P-37), Albacora Leste (P-50) and Parque das Baleias (FPSO Capixaba).

Even so, Gabrielli declared that he expected Petrobras to reach its goal of average daily output of 2.1 million barrels this year.

“We are working to increase production. Now, if there are more mandatory maintenance halts, I don’t know,” he said.

Speaking at a public hearing at the Economic Affairs Commission in the Senate yesterday, Gabrielli declared that the present economic crisis was not expected to affect the company’s financial situation, specifically its ability to contract loans and create debt. He added that there was little chance of a significant drop in demand for fuel.

“Our vision of the future remains intact. People will continue to drive cars, ride buses. The world is not going to end, things go on,” said Gabrielli.

The president of Petrobras also said that the company does not have any activities in Libya at the moment. There were seven employees there working on exploration, but there were removed. “Today, we have no operation in Libya. We are waiting to see what happens and then we will decide if we return or not,” said Gabrielli.

The 2.78% reduction in production was for all Petrobras operations – both in Brazil and abroad. In fact, domestic production fell more, down 3.25%, because the shutdowns on oil rigs all occurred in Brazil.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Gabrielli culpa fiscalização mais rigorosa de plataformas pela queda da produção da Petrobrás

Link - Produção da Petrobras cai 2,78% em julho em relação ao mês anterior