Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, has announced that production in 2020 should surpass previously disclosed estimates as production is ramped up at offshore oilfields, according to Reuters.

The company expects to produce roughly 2.84 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d) this year, up from its previous estimate of 2.7 mmbbl/d. Crude output should now account for 2.28 mmbbl/d, up from its previous estimate of 2.2 mmbbl/d.

This revision does not come as a shock as Petrobras has consistently exceeded its production expectations this year and there have been rumblings that their estimations are too conservative.

Regardless, this underlines the speed at which Petrobras has managed to recover from the setbacks caused by the pandemic. 

In Q3 the company produced 2.952 mmbbl/d, up 5.4% from the previous quarter and up 2.6% from the same period last year. The company has attributed the increased production to the ramp-up of its Atapu field and a strong performance at the Buzios offshore field, one of the world’s largest.

What’s more, refinery utilization rates were operating at 80% in Q3, up from all-time lows of 55% in April.