By Jeffrey T. Lewis

SAO PAULO--Brazilian oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, posted a loss in the third quarter as sales of diesel fuel, aviation fuel and gasoline declined from a year earlier and the price of a barrel of oil dropped.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company said it had a net loss of 1.5 billion reais, equivalent to $261 million, in the third quarter, compared with net income of BRL9.1 billion in the same period a year earlier. Recurring net income, which excludes one-time items, plunged 68.2% from a year earlier to BRL3.2 billion.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization increased 2.6% from a year earlier to BRL33.4 billion and recurring adjusted EBITDA rose 6.1% to BRL37.3 billion. Revenue fell 8.2% to BRL70.7 billion.

Petrobras said last week it pumped an average of 2.95 million barrels of oil equivalent per day during the quarter, an increase of 5.4% from the previous three-month period as it boosted efficiency and ramped up output from new platforms. The company estimated that production for 2020 will reach an average of 2.84 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Petrobras has been successful at cutting its lifting cost, or the cost of extracting oil from its offshore fields in ultra-deep water in the area known as the pre-salt. The more it reduces that cost, the better placed it is to compete in a world with lower oil prices, according to Gabriel Francisco, an analyst at XP Investimentos.

"Petrobras is becoming more resilient to low oil prices going forward because the economics of the pre-salt assets are very attractive," he said.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude fell 30.6% in the third quarter from a year earlier to $43. Petrobras's sales of diesel fuel fell 18.1% from a year earlier to BRL19.6 billion, while sales of aviation fuel declined 72.7% to BRL1 billion. Gasoline sales fell 1.4% to BRL9.2 billion.

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-28-20 1914ET