Crude oil production in Brazil averaged 2.8 million barrels daily in the first quarter of 2021, the country’s National Petroleum Agency reported, as quoted by Reuters. This was down 6 percent on the first quarter of 2020, the report said. The output of state-owned Petrobras fell by 5 percent on the year in the first quarter of 2021, to 2.1 million bpd. The state major produces some 75 percent of Brazil’s total oil output. Last year, Brazil became one of the very few winners from the pandemic and the crisis it caused on oil markets. The country became the third-largest oil supplier to China, which recovered pretty quickly from the worst of the pandemic. Unlike virtually every other exporter of crude, Brazil boosted its shipments abroad during the first half of 2020 thanks to China’s oil appetite. As a result, Petrobras said it planned to boost production this year, […]