*Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras has released its production results for the second quarter, showing average oil and gas production of 2.7m barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). This marks a 2.4% increase from Q2 2023 but a 2.8% decrease from the previous quarter. In a press release, the company attributed the quarterly drop to factors such as maintenance works and the natural decline of mature oil fields. The yearly increase was attributed to a ramp-up of production in five offshore processing facilities in the pre-salt basins near Brazil’s south-eastern coasts – Almirante Barroso, P-71, Anna Nery, Anita Garibaldi, and Sepetiba – as well as launch of 12 new oil wells since last year.