Petrobras hikes 10-yr oil output target-CFO

 * Previous forecast was 5.4 mln bpd for 2020

 (Adds details)

 By Brian Ellsworth

 RIO DE JANEIRO, June 3 (Reuters) - Brazilian state-led oil
company Petrobras said on Friday it will produce more than any
other publicly listed oil company at 6 million barrels of oil
equivalent a day in 2020, 10% more than its previous estimate.

 The expanded production estimate, presented by Chief
Financial Officer Almir Barbassa on Friday in Rio de Janeiro,
is based primarily on the addition of new ultra-deep-water
assets and exploration areas near Rio de Janeiro and Sao
Paulo.

 The previous global estimate, announced in 2010, was 5.4
million barrels. Of that figure, about 1.13 million barrels a
day, or 23% was natural gas. About 6% of the estimate refers to
oil and gas production outside of Brazil.

More than half of the output is likely to go to export
markets, making Petrobras one of the major suppliers of oil
outside of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
It will also allow Brazil to challenge the United States as the
world's No. 3 producer after Russia and Saudi Arabia.

 "Petrobras today is the third largest energy company in the
world, and the second largest oil company among those that are
publicly listed," Barbassa said during a speech at the
companys research center. The company will be producing "6
million barrels per day within 10 years," he said.

 The current production leader is ExxonMobil with 4.4
million barrels of oil and gas equivalent output a day in
2010.

 The output estimate increase also signals Petrobras may be
planning to ramp up its already ambitious production targets
when it releases its highly-awaited five-year business plan.

 Barbassa declined further comment.

 In clarifying the CFO comments, a press spokesman said the
6-mil bbl a day figure referred to barrels of oil equivalent
rather than simply barrels of oil. Barrels of oil equivalent
refers to oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids into a
single measure.

 A second company spokesman told reporters the higher
production figure includes oil to be produced from offshore
areas that hold an estimated 5 billion barrels of oil that
Petrobras acquired as part of its $70 billion 2010 share
offering.

 Brazil hopes to become a major oil exporter by tapping
crude from the deep-water region known as the subsalt, which is
believed to hold more than 50 billion barrels of crude and has
become a new frontier for global oil exploration.

 The company in the coming weeks is expected to release a
new 5-year investment plan covering the period between 2011 to
2015, updating its previous $224 billion 2010-2014 business
plan. Analysts expect the total outlays in the new plan to be
in line with the current plan.

 The new plan will give investors guidance on whether
Petrobras will trim down investments in areas such as refining
and transport and give further signals to oil markets on how
much output to expect from Brazil's increasingly relevant
fields.

 Petrobras earlier this year released an updated plan for
its subsalt operations that lowered the cost of developing
those areas as a result of higher-than-expected productivity of
fields that will allow it to drill fewer wells than originally
anticipated.

 (Additional reporting by Jeb Blount; Writing by Reese Ewing
and Jeb Blount; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Sofina
Mirza-Reid)


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