Petrobras Q2 Profit Jumps 68.2% as Brent Gains 29% and Output Hits Record

Petrobras reported second-quarter net profit of USD 10.428 billion, or EUR 8.968 billion, up 68.2% year on year and 120.3% above the first quarter, the Brazilian state-controlled producer said on Thursday.

The arithmetic behind that jump is a textbook case of operating leverage in upstream oil. The average Brent price rose 29% over the year, from USD 71.7 per barrel in the first half of 2025 to USD 92.6 per barrel in the first six months of this year. Volumes moved in the same direction rather than offsetting the price gain. EBITDA for the half rose 52.2% to USD 29.964 billion, or EUR 25.769 billion.

Net profit for the first half reached USD 16.627 billion, or EUR 14.299 billion, a 55.3% increase year on year.

Second-quarter output set a company record at 3.34 million barrels of oil and natural gas equivalent per day, 14.1% above the same quarter of 2025 and 3.4% above the first three months of this year. Crude output alone hit an all-time high of 2.7 million barrels per day, growing 15% year on year.

The company attributed the profit growth to higher oil prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East and to the records reached in crude and refined product output.

"The operational records we achieved led us to one of the largest quarterly financial results in Petrobras history," chief financial officer Fernando Melgarejo said.

The board approved shareholder remuneration of BRL 17.4 billion, or EUR 2.94 billion.

For investors outside Brazil, the pass-through is direct: the company is controlled by the Brazilian state but its shares trade in Sao Paulo, New York and Madrid. A 29-point percentage move in the benchmark that translated into a 52.2% EBITDA gain over six months, and a 68.2% profit gain in a single quarter, sets a marker for how heavily geared upstream earnings remain to the crude curve when volumes are rising at the same time.

The sequential comparison is the sharper one. Second-quarter profit more than doubled against the first quarter, at 120.3% above it, while production over the same span rose 3.4%. Most of the quarter-on-quarter step change therefore sits on price and margin rather than barrels, which is what makes the result sensitive in both directions should Brent retrace from the USD 92.6 per barrel half-year average.