Brazil's production of 3.24 million barrels per day (b/d) of petroleum and other liquids in 2016 has made it the world’s ninth-largest producer and the third-largest in the Americas behind the U.S. and Canada, U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday.
The Country Analysis Brief showed that increasing domestic oil production has been a long-term goal of the Brazilian government, and discoveries of large, offshore, pre-salt oil deposits have transformed Brazil into a top-10 liquid fuels producer.
According to the brief, total primary energy consumption in Brazil has nearly doubled in the past decade because of economic growth.
In addition, Brazil was the largest producer of petroleum and other liquids in South America in 2016, surpassing Venezuela.
"Petroleum and other liquids represented about 47 percent of Brazil’s domestic energy consumption in 2016," according to the report.
It also underlined that renewables, hydroelectric power, and nuclear energy accounted for a combined 37 percent of Brazil’s energy consumption in 2016.
The Oil & Gas Journal estimates that as of January 2017, Brazil had 13 billion barrels of proved oil reserves.
These reserves represent the second-largest level in South America after Venezuela and almost 1 percent of the world’s total reserves. More than 94 percent of Brazil’s oil reserves are located offshore, while 80 percent of all offshore reserves are found near the state of Rio de Janeiro.
"The
next largest accumulation of reserves is located off the coast of the Espirito
Santo state, with about 10 percent of the country’s oil reserves. Reserves
are expected to rise as pre-salt resources are further explored," the EIA
report said.
- Production and Consumption
Last year, Brazil’s production of petroleum and other liquid fuels was 3.24 million b/d, up from 3.18 million b/d in 2015.
"Crude oil made up 2.5 million b/d, and the remainder was produced as biofuels, natural gas, and other liquids," the report stated.
In addition, Brazil exported approximately 798,000 b/d of crude oil in 2016, an 8 percent increase from the previous year.
China, the largest importer of Brazilian crude oil, imported about 296,000 b/d in 2016, an increase of more than 17 percent from 2015.
"Uruguay was the second-largest importer of Brazilian crude oil in 2016, with 100,000 b/d," the report said.
(Anadolu Agency)
