Petrobras profit jumps 80%, tops estimates on Iran war-driven oil rally
This comes as supply disruptions from the Middle East conflict lift prices for crude, petrol and diesel
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[RIO DE JANEIRO] Brazilian oil producer Petrobras outperformed expectations after supply disruptions stemming from the US-Iran conflict lifted second quarter prices for crude, petrol and diesel.
The state-controlled driller’s 93.8 billion reais (US$18.4 billion) in adjusted earnings before earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation surpassed the average 91.3 billion reais consensus compiled by Bloomberg.
The figure was up 80 per cent from a year earlier.
Petroleo Brasileiro, as the company is formally known, joins major companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell in reaping bumper profits amid the energy market disarray wrought by wars in the Persian Gulf region and Russia.
The Rio de Janeiro-based oil giant defied the trend among its biggest rivals that plowed windfall profits into debt reduction, signalling caution over the durability of war-driven gains.
For its part, Petrobras focused on rewarding investors with US$3.4 billion in shareholder payouts. Analysts had forecast US$3.1 billion in such outlays.
Latin America’s biggest oil producer posted record oil and natural gas production for the period as new wells at giant offshore fields lifted output and its refineries ran at unusually high utilisation rates, helping shore up domestic fuel supplies.
Petrobras is selling diesel and petrol at the refinery gate below the international benchmark, according to Brazilian importers’ association Abicom.
The Brazilian government has introduced a combination of tax cuts and subsidies to cushion pain at the pump, and imposed a temporary oil-export tax to help compensate for the measures. BLOOMBERG
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