Petrobras Brazil oil output rises in April

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 14 (Reuters) - Domestic oil output by Brazil's state-run energy company Petrobras in April rose 2.3 percent from March, reversing three straight monthly drops, the company said Wednesday.

Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N), which accounts for nearly all crude production and refining in Latin America's largest country, said in a statement that it pumped an average of over 1.84 million barrels per day last month, a 3.5 percent increase over the year-earlier period.

The company, formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro SA, said output increased after new wells were connected to offshore platforms working on the Roncador, Marlim and Pampo fields, and a new platform started pumping extraheavy crude on March 31 at the Badejo field.

Petrobras has a production target of 1.95 million bpd with a leeway of 2.5 percent this year. Last year, it produced 1.79 million bpd. Petrobras expects an average annual output growth of over 7 percent through 2012.

Natural gas production in Brazil in April edged up 0.4 percent from March levels to reach 50.1 million cubic meters per day, Petrobras said.

The company's international oil output dipped to 122,200 bpd from 122,700 bpd in March, and natural gas production abroad slipped to 17.27 mmcmd from 17.37 mmcmd.

Outside Brazil, Petrobras produces crude or natural gas in Argentina, Angola, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the United States and Venezuela.

As a result, Petrobras' total output of crude and natural gas in Brazil and abroad rose 1.8 percent from March levels to around 2.38 million bpd in oil equivalent. (Reporting by Andrei Khalip;; Editing by John Picinich)