Brazil likely to regain self-sufficiency in oil production in 2015

Brazil may regain its self-sufficiency in oil production in 2015, Brazilian oil giant Petrobras CEO, Maria das Gracas Foster, said on Wednesday. Foster told a press conference that Brazil achieved self-sufficiency in oil production in 2006, but lost that self-sufficiency in 2011 due to a rise in consumption. Since then, Brazil depends on fuel imports to supply its domestic market. The country is close to achieving self-sufficiency again in 2015, Foster said. However, she said that self-sufficiency in oil byproducts processing is not expected to be achieved before 2020. The average oil production for 2013-2020 period is expected to reach 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd). By 2020, the production is expected to total 3.7 million bpd. According to Foster, the average was 1.9 million bpd in 2013, which was 2 percent lower than in 2012, due to delayed operations of some oil platforms. "All wells drilled in Brazil's pre-salt region indicated significant accumulation of hydrocarbons," she said