Brazil’s embattled state oil company is deriving more gains from crude below $65 than at any point of the commodities super-cycle.
A combination of lower international prices and a slumping domestic economy turned Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s money-losing refining unit into a profit center, second-quarter earnings published Thursday show. That’s because it was selling imported fuel at a loss when prices were higher and demand was booming, but not anymore.
Petrobras, as the world’s biggest deep-water producer is known, has been cutting spending after a debt-fueled exploration campaign failed to deliver on ambitious goals. Plus multibillion-dollar writedowns sapped profits last year, so the fuel unit gains are giving it a reprieve from bad news.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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