Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras said on Oct. 24 that its crude oil production during the third-quarter fell 6.8% compared to the same period last year.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, pumped 2.115 MMbbl/d in the July-to-September period, according to a Petrobras statement.

Brazil is Latin America's top oil and gas producer, ahead of other major regional petroleum suppliers Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela.

Including natural gas output, the Brazilian oil giant produced a daily average of 2.644 MMboe, down 6.6% from the same quarter last year.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company attributed the declining output to fewer barrels from its Atapu and Sepia fields, the stoppage of operations at its FPSO Capixaba unit as well as what it described as the "natural decline" of mature fields.

Around 73% of Petrobras output came from Brazil's so-called pre-salt fields, an oil-rich offshore region off the country's southeastern Atlantic coast.

In the same quarter last year, 71% of the company's oil production came from the same area.