Recent hiccups for Brazilian oil supply call into question the growth projections for the country, with implications for the global oil market. Brazil’s oil production slipped by 65,000 bpd in January, falling to 2.73 million barrels per day (mb/d). Compared to a year ago, January’s production levels were flat, “as maintenance and declines from mature fields offset growth from new start-ups,” the IEA said in its March Oil Market Report. The IEA went on to say that “[o]utput should rise in February following the start-up of the P-67 platform in the Lula Norte area and the P-76 at Buzios.” However, production fell again to around 2.5 mb/d in February. The IEA had estimated that Brazilian production would increase by 375,000 bpd this year to about 3.3 mb/d by the end of the year. For the full-year, the IEA expects Brazil to average 3.07 mb/d. The setback does not necessarily […]