By Jeffrey T. Lewis

SÃO PAULO--Brazilian oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, said Thursday it produced more oil in the second quarter compared with the first as the company continued to ramp up output from two offshore platforms.

Petrobras pumped an average of 2.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day during the three months ended in June, an increase of 1.1% from the previous three-month period and a decline of 0.2% from the same period a year earlier, according to its quarterly production report.

Commercial production rose 1.4% in the second quarter from the first quarter to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, an increase of 0.4% from a year earlier.

Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras has been selling off onshore and shallow-water production assets to focus its efforts on boosting output from its rich offshore fields in ultra-deep waters off the coast of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states, an area known as the pre-salt because it lies deep beneath a thick layer of salt under the seabed.

The company said total production from its pre-salt fields averaged 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, representing 70% of Petrobras's total production in the quarter, up from 69% of production in the first quarter of 2021 and from 66% in the second quarter of last year.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-22-21 1745ET