Brazil Oil, Gas Output Above 3 mln Barrels a Day

Brazil produced more than 3 million barrels of oil and equivalent natural gas a day (boepd) for the second straight month in January, 20 percent more than a year earlier, as the country benefited from the startup of long-delayed production systems.

The 44 companies operating in Brazil together produced an average 3.08 million boepd in the month, Brazilian oil regulator ANP said in a statement on Tuesday.

January output was little changed from December, falling by an average of 19,000 boepd, or 0.6 percent.

State-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, remained the dominant producer, with 2.59 million boepd, or 84 percent of Brazilian output in the month, down from 88 percent a year earlier.

Britain's BG Plc, which owns stakes in several giant offshore fields in the Santos Basin with Petrobras and other partners, was the No. 2 producer, with 140,562 boepd in the month, more than double the output of a year earlier.

Reporting by Jeb Blount