Petrobras notches $5.9 bn profit in Q3

Petrobras notches $5.9 bn profit in Q3

It was the fourth straight quarterly profit for the company, up from a loss of $236 million for the same period in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic had sent crude prices crashing. Since then, Petrobras has rebounded on the back of soaring prices -- so much so that far-right President Jair Bolsonaro said earlier on Thursday it was making too much profit. "Petrobras needs to be a company that doesn't post excessively high profits, as it has been doing," he said in his weekly live address on social media. "It has to play a social role, in the good sense of the term." Bolsonaro made the remarks just before the company announced its profit for the July-September period, which followed a profit of $8. 1 billion for April-June. Petrobras said the boost had come largely from the rebound of Brent crude prices to an average of $73. 47 a barrel in the third quarter, up 70. 9 percent in a year. The company has largely passed that increase on to customers at the pump, drawing the ire of consumers -- and Bolsonaro -- as fuel prices soar. The president had also criticized Petrobras on Wednesday, saying, "It's a state-run company