Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras posted a 7.2% drop in
net profit for the first quarter of 2026 compared to a year
earlier, as real appreciation weighed on costs and the full benefit
of surging oil prices had yet to flow through to revenues, though
the result beat market expectations.
Net profit reached BRL32.6bn ($6.2bn) between January and March,
down from BRL35.2bn in the same period of 2025 but well above the
roughly BRL29bn analysts had forecast, according to O
Globo.
In dollar terms, profit actually rose 3.8% to $6.19bn. Revenue
edged up just 0.4% year on year to BRL123.7bn.
The company cautioned that higher oil prices and record
production had not yet fed through to first-quarter revenues due to
the timing of export pricing.
'In the Asian market, the destination of most of the company's
exports, pricing is usually based on the prices of the month prior
to the arrival of the cargo. Therefore, the increase in oil prices
after the start of the conflict in the Middle East should be
reflected in exports in the second quarter of 2026,' Petrobras said
in a statement.
Commercial production rose 16% year on year to 2.831mn barrels
of oil equivalent per day, driven by a 17.8% increase in pre-salt
output. Oil shipments surged 61.2% to 888,000 barrels per day.
'We delivered consistent financial results in the first quarter
of 2026. Our investments are translating into growth in the
production of oil and petroleum products,' chief financial officer
Fernando Melgarejo said, as quoted by Agence France Presse
(AFP).
The average Brent price received rose from $75.66 per barrel in
Q1 2025 to $80.61 in the latest quarter. Since March, with the
escalation of the Middle East conflict and the closure of the
Strait of Hormuz, crude has reached $126 per barrel — gains that
analysts expect to translate into significantly stronger margins in
the second quarter.
Profits were held back by the real’s appreciation, with the
exchange rate moving from BRL5.84 to BRL5.26 per dollar year on
year, pushing up exploration and production costs.
Net debt rose to $62.09bn from $56.03bn a year earlier, while
free cash flow fell to BRL20.1bn from BRL26bn.
Petrobras declared dividends of BRL9.03bn for the quarter.
© 2026 bne IntelliNews, source Magazine
