MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras posted net income of R5.3 billion in 1Q15, 1% down on 1Q14, influenced by the increase in the company’s net financial expense, especially due to the higher depreciation of the real against the U.S. dollar, said the company.
Operating income totaled R13.3 billion, 76% up on 1Q14, chiefly due to the expansion in oil and gas production, higher margins from the sale of oil products and lower expenses with the government take and imports. In addition, the 1Q14 result was impacted by the provisioning for the Program to Encourage Voluntary Severance (PIDV) (R2.4 billion), which did not occur in 2015.
First-quarter adjusted EBITDA amounted to R21.5 billion, 50% up year-on-year, fueled by the increase in diesel and gasoline prices in 2014, as well as the higher operating income mentioned above.
Investments totaled R17.8 billion, 13% less than in 1Q14, mostly allocated to the Exploration and Production segment in Brazil, which absorbed 79% of the funds, mainly allocated to projects to increase capacity.
Petrobras ended the quarter with a cash position of R68.2 billion.
Petrobras’ oil and natural gas output in Brazil and abroad grew by 11% over 1Q14, averaging 2 million 803 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). In April, the company reached record monthly oil production in the pre-salt area, of 715 thousand barrels per day.
In 1Q15, the company launched the operation of the anticipated production system in the Buzios filed (Santos Basin); in P-61, in the Papa-Terra filed (Campos Basin); and in the Hadrian South field, in ultra-deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico (USA).
In Refining, oil product output totaled 2 million 119 thousand bpd, 8% down on the same period in 2014. The lower domestic production reflects the scheduled stoppage of the Landulpho Alves Refinery (RLAM), in Bahia, partially offset by the contribution from RNEST’s output.
As MRC informed earlier, Brazil's scandal-hit state oil giant Petrobras lost USD7.2 billion last year, it said Wednesday, releasing its first audited account of the damage from a massive kickbacks scheme. The corruption scandal, in which Petrobras executives allegedly colluded with construction companies to massively inflate contracts and bribe politicians, has badly hurt Brazil's largest company and President Dilma Rousseff's government.
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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