Afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Petrobras webcast with analysts and investors about the second quarter results. It's great to have you join us today. We'd like to inform you that all participants will follow the transmission by internet as listeners. After introduction, a Q&A session will begin. You can send us questions by email at petroinvest@petrobras.com.br. Today, we have with us Cláudio Mastella, Chief Trading and Logistics Officer, Fernando Borges, Chief Exploration and Production Officer, João Henrique Rittershaussen, Chief Production Development Officer, Juliano Dantas, Chief Digital Transformation and Innovation Officer, Rafael Chaves, Chief Institutional Relations and Sustainability Officer, Rodrigo Araujo, Chief Financial and Investor Relations Officer, Rodrigo Costa, Chief Refining and Natural Gas Officer, and Salvador Dahan, Chief Governance and Compliance Officer. To initiate, I'll pass the floor to Petrobras CFO, Rodrigo Araujo. Please, Rodrigo, go ahead.
Thank you, Carla. Thanks everyone for being with us today this afternoon. We had a very solid quarter in which our solid operational results translated into solid financial results as well. I'm very glad to be here with you today to talk about our results for the second quarter of 2022. Next slide, please. To just remind ourselves of our disclaimer about future projections and expectations. Next, please. With respect to safety, as you guys know, we have safety as a very strong value for the company, and we're very concerned about improving our overall safety and our metrics. We're glad that we can see the trajectory of the total recordable injuries over time, and especially that we've been able to maintain a level that is below our acceptable limit of 0.7.
We reached 0.52 in the second quarter of 2022. Of course, our ambition is to have zero fatalities, and our main concern is to make sure that we can achieve that ambition. Unfortunately, we had three fatalities during the year, but we maintain our focus on improving our safety levels and making sure that our operations are always running as safely as possible. Next, please. Next, please. Talking about our ESG agenda. In the second quarter, we highlight the Floresta Viva initiative. That is initiative of match funding from the Brazilian Development Bank, BNDES, to restore 33,000 acres and capture 9 million tons of carbon. Petrobras is investing BRL 50 million in a five-year timeframe to support that initiative.
We think that it's a very important step towards decarbonization and supporting the reforestation agenda in Brazil. This is going to go through a public selection process for the managing partner and for the execution alongside with the Brazilian biodiversity fund, FUNBIO. We're very glad to be part of that initiative alongside with the Brazilian Development Bank. Next, please. Looking at our emissions in the quarter, we can see that both in the upstream and downstream segment, our results were pretty solid and within the targets that we set for the year. For the upstream, I highlight the levels of emission for Búzios and Tupi. Both of them below 10 kg of CO2 per barrel oil equivalent, which is about half the industry average.
We reinforce our positioning as a low carbon, low cost company. The results of our operations are continually backing our assumption of being a very solid player in that sense. With respect to the intensity in the refining segment, we can see that the refineries that are part of our RefTOP program, that is a program focused on energy intensity in a group of refineries, have been performing pretty well. We're below the target set for the year. When we look at certain refineries like RPBC, REPAR, RLAM, REVAP and REDUC, we're even below that. We had the best historical result for a semester, and we keep a very high focus on reducing the intensity in the refining segment as well. Next, please. Next, please. Okay.
Looking at the absolute emissions, it's important to remember that in the second half of 2021, we had a very high level of thermal power dispatch in Brazil, so thermal electricity being produced in Brazil in the second half. Our total emissions increased in the second half of 2021. When we look at the overall figures, we can see that the downward trajectory in 2022, our results have come back to a normal level and to a normal trajectory of reducing emissions over time. Looking at the oil and gas operational emissions, it reinforces our commitment to decarbonize our operations and reduce our emissions in the upstream and downstream operations. We had very solid results in the first half of 2022.
Next, please. In terms of carbon capture, as you guys know, we have the largest carbon capture program offshore in the world, and we continue to deliver solid results in that sense. In the first half of 2022, we have already reinjected more than what we reinjected in the entire year of 2019. In terms of CO2, we have a target of reinjecting 40 million tons by 2025, and we continue to be highly committed to that target. Next, please. During the quarter, we also signed our first sustainability-linked loan as a transaction of $1.25 billion maturing July 2027. It's our first financial commitment with ESG KPIs, so mainly focused on greenhouse gas intensity in the upstream and downstream segment, as well as methane intensity.
From our perspective, we think that is a very solid step towards moving from just commitments to actually reinforcing towards sustainability-linked loan our desire to deliver on those targets. Basically, the contracts will become less expensive as we deliver on the lower emission targets that we have. It reinforces our focus and commitment to deliver those targets. In terms of engagement of our supply chain, we have started a broad survey of the supply chain to engage and collect data from our suppliers. We expect to collect data from about 25%-30% of our suppliers by the end of 2022, so that we can monitor not only their level of emissions, but also the maturity that they have in terms of programs to reduce emissions.
This is what we expect for 2022 and start working on that data as well. Looking at the training of our workforce, we have delivered online programs for more than 35,000 people in the company. We have two different modules. The second module, already 10,000 people in the company have been trained with respect to climate change and the company's position in terms of the energy transition scenario. Very happy to reinforce the commitment internally as well with our workforce. Next, please. In terms of governance, we've been focused on automating our internal controls, and we have announced recently this week an improvement in terms of the governance of our pricing policy, bringing an additional layer of supervision by the board of directors.
It doesn't change the company's pricing policy. It brings another layer of supervision. Also, we have made public our general guidance for the company's pricing strategy. We think that is very important, that step, to make public a pricing guideline document that reinforces the company's commitment to practicing market prices and being a market price player, supporting the market opening scenarios. I think that is very important, the fact that we've disclosed that, the document publicly. Next, please. Finally, with respect to our contribution, we paid BRL 77.3 billion in taxes over the second quarter. More than half of our cash generation is returned to the Brazilian society, so we're very glad with the results and with the fact that the company's substantial contributor to the Brazilian society.
Next, please. Next. Entering into our financial results, we had a very solid quarter, not only in the upstream segment, but also in the downstream segment. We broke monthly records in Búzios. We topped up the production of P-68. We had production started at FPSO Guanabara and the sailing to Brazil of Anita Garibaldi as well. We had important results confirming the productivity of the Alter de Cabo Frio Central area in our exploration segment. Very happy with the prospects of that area. We also had the beginning of the production sharing contract for Atapu and Sépia. This impacted our production in the quarter. It reduced our production in the quarter given that our working interest in the area has reduced.
Of course, we have received cash in advance for that contract as well. We've been compensated for the deferral of the NPV of the project. We anticipated cash and derisked part of the project. It's interesting to highlight not only the high utilization level of our refineries close to 90% in the quarter, 97% at the end of June, but also the level of integration of our operations and how well our entire supply chain has been working from the upstream segment to the downstream segment. To give a general picture, we usually work with 2%-3% miss ratio for the planning versus what we produce over time. This ratio was 0.1% in the second quarter of 2022.
You can see that we've been able to deliver what we have said in terms of planning for the entire supply chain. This translated into more production and more financial results as a consequence. We started on a pilot basis producing Biojet Fuel at REPAR. We also had monthly record sales of low sulfur 10 PPM diesel. As I mentioned before, lower intensity by our refining segment. Our commitment with the RefTOP program is very solid and is already starting to deliver results. Looking at the financial metrics, we had $20 billion recurring EBITDA for the quarter, $14.5 billion operating cash flow, a free cash flow of $12.8 billion. Our gross debt has reduced to $53.6 billion. Our net income, the slide has a typo there. The net income was $11 billion in the quarter.
Basically looking at the solid financial results and the company's financial situation, we were able to approve the anticipated dividends of BRL 6.73 per share. It's a commitment that we set for the quarter. It does not jeopardize the application of our 60% of the free cash flow formula for the upcoming quarters. As you guys know, the way we model this, we look at the results, we apply the 60% formula, we model what we expect to happen and make a risk analysis for the next 12-24 months. This payment is compatible with we expect in terms of future scenarios, compatible with maintaining the application of the dividend policy for the next 24 months. We're very comfortable with the dividends that were approved. Our net debt EBITDA is 0.6x. It's very solid and very consistent. As I mentioned before, we paid BRL 77.3 billion in taxes, BRL 77.3 billion in taxes in the quarter.
Next, please. With respect to the external environment, we saw higher Brent prices in the period and an appreciation of the Brazilian real for the average of the quarter. When we look at the period end exchange rate, we had a negative impact in our net income because of the depreciation of the period end exchange rate. As you guys know, it's not something that impacts cash flow or it's not an economic impact. It's an accounting impact. It doesn't mean any impact on cash flows or future prospects of the company, but impacted negatively the net income for the period.
Next, please. Back one please. No. It's right. It's all right. Okay. Looking at the future prospects for 2023 and 2024, we can see that most of the contracting that has to be done for 2023 and 2024 is already concluded. We expect five units to come online in 2023 and three units to come online in 2024. We're very glad with the fact that we've been able to anticipate the contracting not only with respect to FPSOs, but with the drilling wells, the drilling campaigns and also the subsea equipment. You can see that we're working strongly to make sure that we secure all the contracting, so that we have the projects coming online on time. More than 90% of the value of the projects come from making right decisions in terms of investment on the way to explore the different fields, and also making sure that we deliver the projects on time. We have a very strong commitment to deliver those projects on time and we expect to deliver everything that is set for 2023 and 2024 on time.
Next please. Next. Looking at the quarter results, as I mentioned before, $20 billion EBITDA for the quarter. Better results, not only in the upstream and downstream segment, but also natural gas. We had lower volumes of LNG imports in the quarter that also supported our results for the second quarter of 2022. Next, please. Upstream was, of course, favored by higher Brent prices. Downstream results, as I mentioned before, the level of integration and the higher integrated planning also supported us, delivered solid results. Even when we look at EBITDA replacement cost, it was a very solid quarter for the refining segment as well.
For the natural gas, the gas power segment after two quarters with challenging scenarios, given the high level of LNG imports and the high prices in the international market, we've been working strongly on renewing contracts, on changing the contractual dynamic to support better results. Of course, the fact that we had lower LNG imports was also accretive to the quarter. We had positive results for the gas and power segment as well in the second quarter. Next please. Looking at the cash flow generation, we come from a $20 billion EBITDA through a $14.5 billion operating cash flow, $2 billion, $1.7 billion CapEx. We had divestments and the Co-participation Agreement after the second at the pre-salt fields, resulting in a $19.6 billion free cash flow after divestment. This was basically used to maintain our leverage within the optimal range and also pay dividends over the quarter. The cash balance hasn't changed substantially from Q1 to Q2.
Next, please. In terms of our leverage, as I mentioned, we're below the optimal range, below the 55, lower end of the range. We're comfortable with that level especially because, as you guys know, we have five units coming online in 2023, which is going to bring the leverage upwards again. We're comfortable with running it at a little bit less than the 55. We expect the trajectory to bring it back upwards. Of course, part of this was because of the conditions of the capital markets. We have favorable open market repurchase and tender offer conditions in the market. We've done a lot of repurchases and haven't had good conditions to issue new debt, so that's why we brought the leverage a little bit down. We also signed the sustainability-linked loan. Basically on a net basis, if we include the $854 million from the tender offer with the $1.25 billion sustainability-linked loan, it averages out on a positive basis. We'll try to continue to maintain leverage closer to the optimal range.
In terms of cash levels, very solid cash levels. We also have the revolving credit facilities that we can use. Of course, the cash level at the end of the quarter doesn't take into account the dividend payments that occurred after the end of the quarter and the new dividend announcements that we made. We continue to try to bring the cash levels closer to the optimal range of $8 billion-$10 billion. In terms of the debt maturity and the schedule profile, we're very comfortable with the current levels and with the profile for the next five years. You can see that in terms of financing, the level of maturity over time is very comfortable compared to the company's cash flow generation. It's very comfortable situation in terms of liquidity and of the next five years as well.
Next, please. With respect to portfolio management, we have signed and closed six different transactions in 2022. $3.6 billion of cash flows already occurred up to July 27. As we included in our earnings release, we have around $5 billion of transactions that were signed but not closed yet. We're focused on closing those transactions and moving fast towards closing those transactions. We continue to be very committed to the portfolio management strategy of the company and deliver on the business plan. Next, please. All of this translated in a net income of $11 billion for the quarter. As I mentioned, the one-off is the negative impact of the devaluation of the Brazilian real. At period end, it impacted negatively net income, but it doesn't change the operational performance and the cash flow and economic situation of the company. Very solid quarter, very solid operational results.
Next, please. Finally, as I mentioned, given all the setting and the company's financial situation, we approved dividends of BRL 6.73 per share to be paid in two installments. Basically, as you guys know, we always look at the 60% of free cash flow formula to make sure that we can comply with the dividend policy. We look at the next 12-24 months and our expected cash generation, eventually inflows coming from either divestments or, for example, the Búzios Co-Participation agreement. It allows us to propose extraordinary dividends. Of course, whenever we propose extraordinary dividends, we take into account the need to continue to comply with the dividend policy over the next 24 months. It is something that is very solid for the company and doesn't jeopardize delivery on the dividend policy in the future. That was my last slide. Again, very solid quarter, very happy with the results. I'll pass the floor back to you, Carla, so we can jump in the Q&A session. Thanks everyone for being with us today.
Thank you, Rodrigo. We can now move to the Q&A session. The first question that we received comes from Frank McGann with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and it's for Rafael Chaves. Rafael, has the changing global energy environment over the last couple of quarters changed how the company is looking at energy transition? Might it not be a good idea for the company to consider increasing exposure to renewables or invest in some technologies that could enable the company to start to have more exposure to business that could prosper over the medium and long term? If not, why?
Thank you, Carla. Hi, everyone. Thank you for being with us today. Frank, are we changing our approach to energy transition? Not at all. Brent can be volatile, local exchange rates can be volatile, but our business plan is consistent and stable. We are keeping our low spend money strategy with oil and gas projects with positive NPV value under very low prices, that's $35 per barrel. Characterized by low carbon, high energy assumptions, we operate with efficiency in our projects and low greenhouse gas emissions. Very low, I would say, comparing to other fossil alternatives. We keep our strategy. Out of fossil, yes, we have some actions and investments. For example, in forest, we are going to invest more than $20 million in the next years, including the project that Rodrigo Araujo presented with BNDES.
We are discussing the possibility of new business, non-fossil alternative to be appraised by new board and by directors, and eventually to be announced in the next strategic plan, if it include, we have another possibility for diversification. Thank you everybody again for being with us today, and I pass to you, Carla, again.
Thank you, Rafael. The second question from Frank is to Rodrigo Araujo. Rodrigo, the company recently confirmed that Braskem continues to be in its divestment portfolio. Has the company considered going in a different direction and buying the Novonor stake to take full control of Braskem and expand in petrochemicals?
Thank you. Thank you, Frank, for the question. Yes, you're right. The company continues to have Braskem as one of its divestment assets. We don't think it's the best for the company to have a financial interest in the company, even though we think that there are good prospects for the petrochemical segment, but not via financial interest in a petrochemical company. We continue to be committed to the divestment. At the moment, we do not consider taking control of Braskem or any kind of M&A transaction that increases our share in Braskem. This is what we have now. We continue to be looking for potential M&A opportunities to divest from the interest that we have. Thank you for the question.
Thank you, Rodrigo. The next question comes from Luiz Carvalho with UBS. Luiz sends us a message that I would like to read. We'd like to start by congratulating the company's executives and teams for the outstanding results and continued executing of company's plan while maintaining a healthy corporate governance that was improved in recent years. The first question from Luiz is to Salvador, and I also welcome Mastella to complement. It's about the new pricing guidelines. The new pricing guideline is clear in the focus given to value creation for the company. Could Petrobras provide more details in how it expects this to translate into pricing decisions? Could you also provide more color on the role of the board in supervising the policy?
Thanks for your question, Luiz. Basically, we are putting a new layer in our governance. This is part of our continuous improvement process that we understand as part of the natural responsibility of the board of directors is to monitor and supervise the execution of all the strategies and all the company policies. We are now formalizing this new guideline to confirm the board responsibility over the supervision of how the management is observing and is executing the pricing policy. Basically, monitoring and oversight responsibility. There are no changes at all in the execution. How to conduct the pricing policies is still under the authority of the executive committee.
It is important to mention that by keeping these two layers of responsibility increase our governance with a more robust, transparent, and more balanced process. Our expectation and our visibility with this new guideline is just to ensure the roles and responsibilities for the board, especially, specifically maintaining the competence for the executive directors to execute the pricing policy. Thank you.
Yeah, really not so much really just to emphasize really pricing policies and company bylaws has absolutely not been changed. They're still working quite the same.
Thank you, Salvador. Thank you, Mastella. The second question from Luiz is to Mastella as well. It's about supply, imports, prices, and market share. Thinking specifically of diesel, several agents in the industry have become more vocal on challenge to find diesel volumes in the international market and an unfavorable scenario for imports to Brazil. How is the company seeing the supply, and how are preparations for an eventual challenge in supplying the country?
Thank you. Thank you for the call, for the question. Well, we are still working with some caution for the coming month scenario, in particular, with respect to diesel. Mainly due to seasonal increase in road demand in the second half of the year, lower availability of Russian refined products that affects the whole market. In addition to scheduled maintenance shutdowns at refineries in Brazil, and eventually some unavailability of refineries in the United States or the Caribbean, where there is hurricane season from June to November. We are constantly evaluating market opportunities, and we are not really, at the moment at least, facing difficulties in acquiring cargoes from the traditional suppliers in Asia, like India or USA, where we already do business on a regular basis.
We are all the time concerned with ensuring that our customers are well supplied. For taking that all into account, we reviewed our planned inventory levels for the second half of the year and anticipated some diesel purchases to provide the best service level possible for them. In this scenario of uncertainty, the presence of our traders in our international offices allows us to monitor the flow of oil products, crude oil, of course, inventories, regional demands, and other agents, movements. That allow us to position ourselves in a narrow and competitive position. That's it. I hope I made it clear. Thank you.
Thank you, Mastella. The next question comes from Christian Audi with Santander. He also sent us a message that I'm going to read now. I would like to congratulate on the very strong operational results and the ability of the company to continue to positively surprise shareholders on the dividend front. Christian's first question is to Salvador, and Mastella is also welcome to complement. On the pricing policy front, although the new guidelines keep the decision of making price changes in the hands of management, how does the company benefit from having the board of directors formally overseeing the process on a quarterly basis?
Well, thanks, Christian. As I mentioned, by having this new layer in our governance, we are putting this supervisory responsibility under the board of directors. Basically, the executive management should report on a quarterly basis how we are performing and giving full visibility to the board on our results. At the same time, we expect, as I mentioned before, this will strengthen our governance by offering more robustness and visibility and transparency in our directions. The guideline also emphasize that the executive committee duty is to seek and preserve the value generation of the company and keep the competitive prices in the local market. The reason for putting this policy, as I mentioned before, is basically to continuously improving our governance, our internal mechanisms of controls and basically, this is another step towards this direction. Thank you.
Nothing to add. I think Salvador made it very clear.
Thank you, Salvador. The second question from Christian is to Fernando Borges and also to Rodrigo Costa. How is inflation impacting your operations? What are you doing and what can be done to minimize its impact?
Christian, the increase in industry costs is not immediately reflected in our operating facilities, as we have several different contracts with different durations, which allow us to smooth the effects of changes in contract prices and over time. Some of our current contracts have annual readjustment clauses with predefined indicators such as PPI in the U.S. and IGP-DI in Brazil. We continue to negotiate and seek the best opportunities in contracts, as well as managing contract terms and horizons, avoiding permanent impacts of increased costs. Even so, it is natural that as the price of Brent remains at high levels, new contracts will face some impact of inflation. Although this impact tends to be partially diluted for the reason already mentioned. Thank you.
Christian, for the downstream perspective, we have contracts indexed to inflation rates, especially in the gas transmission contracts. To minimize these impacts, risk studies for future renewals or new contract are made considering different scenarios. Company has three scenarios that we use. In addition to the costs of revenue contracts, we link to factors that are also in line with inflation rates, such as the exchange rate. It's a kind of a hedge position for the impacts in the supply contracts, especially for the gas transmission contracts.
Thank you, Fernando. Thank you, Rodrigo. The next question comes from Bruno Montanari with Morgan Stanley, and it's for Salvador. Mastella is also welcome to comment. It's about a few pricing guidelines. Can you clarify what the supervision of the board of directors means? After the executive officer deciding to move price up or down, is there any veto power from the board?
Thanks, Bruno. The, as I mentioned, and this is important to highlight and emphasize, there is no veto power or conflict in terms of authority and responsibility, right? The policy, the pricing policy, the execution of the pricing policy is under the executive committee authority. The executive committee is responsible to execute and to report the results to the board of directors, which is the instance responsible to supervise and monitor. By the way, that's the reason why we gave full disclosure to this guideline, and it's fully available in our website in case you wanna check. Very clear definitions around roles and responsibility with these two different layers, as I already mentioned. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Salvador.
Just to add that. Sorry. This time I'd like to talk a little bit. Just to add up that the guidelines, as a matter of fact, gives some broader and comprehensive recommendations in directing the executive committee in pursuing better results for the company and making it clear that the policies, whatever the context, whatever the evolution of the market, can evolve with that. That's very important.
Thank you, Salvador. Thank you, Mastella. The next question comes from Bruno Amorim with Goldman Sachs, and it's for Mastella. What is the best international benchmark for Petrobras gasoline price? Comparing Petrobras price with Gulf Coast Gasoline might be misleading given the difference in quality.
Thank you. Thank you, Bruno. This question is pretty interesting. This is a very common misconception, comparing like U.S. Gulf gasoline prices directly to Brazilian prices. Gasoline in Brazil, as a matter of fact, by mandate, is a mixture of 37% of anhydrous ethanol and 63% of fossil gasoline, which we call Gasoline A in Brazil. Brazilian gasoline, Gasoline A, has different quality in relation to its international standards, mainly, octane numbers, due to the blends with ethanol in Brazil. So the transactions have lower liquidity, making it difficult to evaluate and publish these prices, and prices of these transactions, to Brazil. Specialized media, like Platts and Argus for example, have specific publications for prices of Gasoline A delivered to Brazilian ports.
One of these publications is available weekly at the ANP, National Petroleum Agency for Brazil, website. They are proxies of price parity in Brazil. They do not necessarily match Petrobras' view of competitive prices, but they are close. That's natural, and there's a good build history of the import parity for Brazil. Of course, each player in the market will have their own view of competitive prices, and that's common. It's natural. The ANP published prices is a very good proxy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mastella. The next question, also from Bruno, is for you as well. The company has to comply with import parity on average during the calendar year, right? If so, who is responsible for this verification? When does it happen? In December, or as you release the fourth quarter results?
Well, thank you. Thank you again. This is another common doubt. Another fact, we pursue competitive prices all the time. Well, it's very important to highlight that we continuously monitor the market, and we are continually pursuing competitive prices, but taking care not to translate the international volatility to the domestic market. That's some learning curve that we evolved during the last years. Well, of course, that the daily computation analysis is done all the time, but at the end of the year, we also compare with the average of the prices.
As a matter of fact, as we have a plan, we have to have an estimated percent of the alignment of prices in Brazil with international markets. That's the comparison that goes in when you do planning and business planning for the year. Of course, at the end of the year and every three months, quarterly, we show the evolution and the pricing practice to the board of directors as a way to show that we are effectively going after this target. No, we don't wait for the end of the year to align prices. We do that all the time.
Thank you, Mastella. The next question comes from Rodolfo Angeli with JPMorgan, and it's for Rodrigo Costa. Utilization rates in the downstream segment was 89% in the second quarter. At one point, utilization was as high as 97%, but Petrobras has scheduled maintenance for the third quarter. What should we expect in terms of utilization in the third and fourth quarters?
Rodolfo, we should expect high utilization rates. For example, on July, we expect to close around 94%. For example, yesterday, we almost reached 99% of utilization rate. If we consider, if we see all the second semester, if we consider the refineries that we don't have a stoppage, probably we are operating at around 94%. If we consider the refineries that we will have stoppages, we are around 86% on the second semester.
Thank you, Rodrigo. The next question, also from Rodolfo, is to Rodrigo Araujo. Rodrigo, the strong payout observed in the first half of 2022 could be maintained for the second half as well?
Oh, thank you. Thank you for the question, Rodolfo. Well, in terms of the framework that we use to decide on dividends, as I've mentioned before, of course, our main focus is to make sure that we're able to comply with the dividend policy over the next 12 to 24 months. To continue to be paying quarterly the 60% of free cash flow. That is the main target. Whenever we see, like we did in this quarter, that we have additional inflows that support paying extraordinary dividends, we will do it, and we will try to bring the cash balances close to $8 billion-$10 billion. That is the optimal level of cash for us.
In terms of payouts for the second half of the year, of course, it depends on several variables such as pricing levels over time, eventually inflows coming from investments or, for example, the Co-participation Agreement for Búzios. We will monitor this over the course of the second half. Of course, looking at the current price levels, they're of course supportive of higher dividend payments. We'll factor all of that into potential payments in the second half. Thank you for your question.
Thank you, Rodrigo. The next question comes from Pedro Soares with BTG Pactual. He also sends us a message. Good afternoon to all. Once again, very good to see the company's results evolving that well in so many different aspects. Pedro's first question is to Rodrigo Costa, and it's about refinery utilization rates. We saw the refinery utilization rates reaching 97% in June. At the same time, there are some expected maintenance stoppage for REVAP, REPLAN and REPAR. Could you talk about what's the level of idleness expected for the second half of the year, and if there's a possibility of any postponement of this maintenance? If so, it would be interesting to hear about the market conditions that you see as a trigger for that.
Pedro, as I told, we will expect higher utilization rates in the second semester, especially due to diesel market conditions. We expect between August and the end of September high volumes of diesel on the Brazilian market, and we are capturing this opportunity. That's important to have in mind that our utilization rate of our refineries has two main pillars. The first one is the safety conditions of our operations, and the second one is the market conditions and the economic process of our units. We analyze some possibilities about postpone some stoppages, and at this moment, we decide postpone a stoppage on REVAP, move from November to the first quarter of 2023. This stoppage covers replacing catalysts in hydrotreatment units.
Thank you, Rodrigo. The second question from Pedro is to Fernando Borges. Fernando, in the last two months, we have seen some important maintenance stoppage impacting the company's production. We know that the guidance remains unchanged for the year. If you can give a little more color on how you see the evolution of production in the second half of the year, and if you understand there is an upside for annual production to be closer to the top of the guidance.
Yeah. First of all, I would like to highlight that we operate at 60 producing platforms. Our total operated production is today 3.6 million BOE per day. It's a lot of work to be done. Considering the stoppage for maintenance, the first half of the year, we had 22 stops with an average production loss around 200,000 barrels per day. For this second half of the year, we expect to have 28 stoppages for maintenance with the same level of production losses, around 200,000 barrels per day, BOE, not oil equivalent.
Considering the opportunities for upsides in production, we have two important ramp-ups. The first one is with FPSO Carioca in Sépia field, which expect to reach the maximum production of the unit, 180,000 barrels per day. Today, we are around 150. We have too, the FPSO Guanabara in Mero field, which we expect to reach the maximum capacity of the unit at the end of this year. Today we are producing around 60,000 barrels per day. At the end of the year, we hope to have 180,000 barrels per day. When we look to Campos and Santos Basin, we have planned more than 10 wells, which four of them is Roncador field. We are sticking to our forecast of 2.6 million BOE per day this year with the range of more or less 4%, and we are targeting the center of this interval. Thank you.
Thank you, Fernando. Pedro also has another question, and it's to João Henrique. It's about the FPSO Almirante Barroso. The FPSO has already left the shipyard in China, and it seems that it remains on time. Is there any expectation of improvements or possible anticipation of the first oil of this platform?
Thank you for the question, Pedro. Yes, it's true. We have informed the market that Almirante Barroso sailed away from COSCO Shipyard in July, and we keep the first oil for 2023. This unit have reached the risers on the wells to the platforms, and you have an EPCI contract to do all these connections to the wells. The two contracts, the charter unit and the EPCI contracts are with the same dates. We understand that we don't have room to anticipate the unit to do the timeframe that we set for both contracts. Thank you.
Thank you, João Henrique. The next question is from Regis Cardoso with Credit Suisse. Regis sent us a message that I'm going to read. Congratulations to all management team and the company for the extraordinary results. They are, in fact, memorable. Regis's first question is to Rodrigo Costa, and it's about impacts from LNG imports. LNG prices are still very high in international markets. After the reduction in imports from Bolivia, what is Petrobras' current needs in terms of LNG imports? How does the company see that evolving going forward?
Hi, Regis. When we see the thermal electrical market, we see better conditions in water reservoirs. Actually, the current level, it's around 68% better than last year. This impacts our needs on import LNG cargos. When we see the outlook for this year, we are working with around 30 cargos import to our operations. This is a very d ecreased number if we consider the scenario that we had on 2021, that it's around 112 cargoes. When we see the second semester for the third quarter, we can have an increase in dispatch, but it's until today, with the information that we have, we don't see a high dispatch on this first quarter, but we have a lot of uncertainty on the fourth quarter. The best information that we have until today take us to this outlook around 40 cargoes this year.
Thank you, Rodrigo. Regis's second question is to Fernando Borges. Fernando, what are expectations around timing for closing the 5% stake purchase option transaction exercised by CNOOC in Búzios?
Yes. The consortium worked with the initial expectation for July first, but we are still waiting on ANP and MME for their approval. Nowadays expectation of the conclusion of this process is between August and September. Thank you.
Thank you, Fernando. Now we have questions from Vicente Falanga, with Bradesco BBI. He sends us a message. Congratulations on the fast delivery and the maintenance of governance policies. Vicente's first question is to Mastella. Mastella, how is the gasoline parity today after the two price cuts were announced? What is the management view for Gulf crack spreads looking ahead?
Thank you. Thank you, Vicente. Well, the recent reduction in gasoline prices just follow the view of the international market evolution, which has stabilized at a lower level for gasoline, which is happening abroad also, and is consistent with Petrobras practice of pricing, which seeks to have prices in balance with market while avoiding passing on the volatility caused by local events. The cracks, in our view, should remain strong in the Gulf as well as worldwide, suffering the pressure of the ongoing geopolitical conflict and tighter supply-demand balances. I'd say, mainly when we talk about diesel. However, high inflation expectations and stronger monetary policies by the main central banks may raise recession concerns, easing demand and consequently alleviating pressure on the cracks that we are observing, but not translated into the practice. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you, Mastella. The next question comes from Gabriel Barra with Citi, and it's for Rodrigo Araujo. Rodrigo, considering the latest material fact and recent news about Albacora's divestment, could you give us an update for the next steps regarding the sale of the assets? Is there a possibility of trading the assets, leaving Furnas out or even changing possible earn-outs?
Thank you, Gabriel, for the question. Well, first of all, as we announced recently this week, the asset is still under negotiation. Wouldn't have any further updates to give. But with respect to the potential spin-off or carve-out of the Furnas part of the asset, as you guys know, if we change the scope from the original teaser, we do need to restart the process. The straightforward answer is no. I mean, we're not gonna restart everything by spinning part of the asset. Of course, in terms of potential earn-outs or potential price discussions, earn-outs can be and are being discussed with respect to the future prospects of the assets. Carving out and changing the scope needs to trigger the need to restart the process. That's not in our plans for now. Thank you for the question.
Thank you, Rodrigo. The next question also from Gabriel is for you, and it's regarding the commitment with CADE. Regarding the commitment with CADE signed by the company to carry out divestments of downstream assets, is there any penalty in a scenario in which the company is not successful in sale of these assets? Is there a possibility of extending the deadline to complying with the terms? If so, does the extension have a limit?
Thank you, Gabriel, for the question. First of all, out of the eight refineries that the company agreed to divest, four of them have been already signed. REMAN has been signed and closed. We have the other three, you know, already signed but not closed. Working on closing them as fast as we can. We expect to be able to close them during the timeframe of the year. With respect to the agreement with CADE, we don't have any penalties as long as the company shows that it's making the best efforts and making everything that is possible to make the transactions occur.
The trustee that monitors the agreement is continually monitoring the company with respect to the steps that it takes. For example, the relaunch of the process that we've done recently is part of the agreement in terms of the next steps. There's a penalty. It's not a material penalty, but it's only in the case in which the company cannot prove that it's done its best efforts, and eventually in the case that there's no buyer or there's no price agreement, there's no penalty associated, as long as the company can show that it's done everything that it could to make transactions occur. Thank you.
Thank you, Rodrigo. There's one more question also for João Henrique. Could you give us more information about the startup process of FPSO Almirante Barroso? What is the expected date for FPSO's first oil? How can we expect the platform to ramp up?
Yes, thank you for the question, Gabriel. Almirante Barroso sailed away from COSCO on July. We expect the first oil in the first half of 2023. We have good projections for the ramp up. The Búzios field has a high weight in the wells. We have designed the wells to absorb this potential of the reservoir. We understand that we have a good chance to have the peak of the production of the unit with four wells. It would be a fast ramp up, and this is our expectation for this unit.
Thank you, João Henrique. The next question comes from André Vidal with XP Investimentos. He sends us a message: Congratulations on the wonderful results and the creation of another pillar to strengthen corporate governance, which was established with the pricing guideline. André's first question is to Rodrigo Araujo. Rodrigo, excluding the signing bonus, CapEx in the first half of the year was $4 billion. The business plan foresaw a CapEx of $11 billion, and this is with more depreciated exchange rate in addition to cost inflations in the period. Should CapEx at the end of the year be lower than previously forecast? If yes, why?
Thank you. Thank you, André , for the question and for the message. If we adjust the forecast for the business plan for the Sépia at the full bidding round, it will go up to around $11.9 billion in expected CapEx for the year. Our most recent outlook is $11 billion, so that's what we expect to perform throughout the year. Of course, as you guys know, the second half of the year is usually, there's usually a ramp up in terms of CapEx in the second half. That's what we expect to perform in our most recent outlook. Thank you.
Thank you, Rodrigo. The next question also from André is to Fernando Borges. Fernando, what is the expectation regarding the lifting costs for both pre-salt and post-salt in the third quarter? Should we expect further cost increases?
André, we expect a lifting cost in the range of $6 per barrel during the coming month for the total Petrobras production. In the pre-salt, we'll see a lifting cost in the range of $3-$4 per barrel. In the post-salt, we should have something around $10-$12 per barrel in the coming month. It's very important to stress that the total production costs, considering other expenses such as government participation and depreciation, will be in the range of $42 per barrel. That's the real cost. Thank you.
Thank you, Fernando. The next question comes from Monique Greco with Itaú BBA. Monique sent us a message as well, I'm going to read it. Congratulations on the result. The team's capacity for generating results is impressive. Monique's first question is to Rodrigo Araujo. How is the status of the divestments in the refineries Albacora and also Bahia Terra?
Thank you. Thank you, Monique. Thank you for the question and for the message. With respect to the refineries in Albacora, I just answered a question recently. I'm gonna focus on Bahia Terra. What we had in Bahia Terra, we had just stopped the process for a legal injunction from one of the potential bidders. It's a competitive process. We have very good prospects. We have other interested bidders on the process. We think we can sign it very fast as soon as we remove the legal barriers that have been imposed on it. It's not related to the company or to the asset or anything like that. It was an injunction that was u pheld by a judge in favor of one of the potential bidders. We expect to be able to revert it soon and, right after, continue with the signing and closing of the transaction. That's where we are now. Thank you.
Thank you, Rodrigo. The next question also from Monique, is to Rodrigo Costa and also Fernando Borges. What's the schedule of maintenance stoppage for refineries in the second half of the year, and how could this eventually impact production? How about the stoppage in oil platforms? Is there a plan for more stops this year?
Monique , for the refineries, we will have stoppage on REPLAN, on the distillation and coking unit, in August and September, will take around 43 days. The other stoppages on RNEST, on the hydrotreatment unit, between August and September, around 28 days. The next stoppage is on REGAP. It's on the hydrotreatment units also and will take 35 days between August and September. REPAR will have works on the distillation and hydrotreatment units, and will take 31 days on September and 43 days on October and November. All these stoppages will impact on diesel around 42,000 barrels per day, and on gasoline, 20,000 barrels per day. That's our estimation on these impacts.
Well, considering the platforms, we have a total of six production platforms. For this year, we have planned six stoppages for maintenance purpose. In this case of this year, we have some of them that were postponed by pandemic reasons. The impact in the production were incorporated in our foreseen predictions. We hope to reach the target of 2.6 million BOE per day this year. Thank you.
Thank you, Rodrigo. Thank you, Fernando. Monique has another question. As far as João Henrique, how is the planned CapEx for this year being carried out, and how will this estimate be impacted by the delay in the Rota 3 project? Projeto Rota Três.
Hey. Hi, Monique. In the first half of this year, we have already achieved around 40% of the total CapEx plan planned for 2022. We expect an increase of the CapEx in the second half, when you compare to the first half. We have some milestones of the new units that we are building, a lot of wells that we will conclude at this time. We have well connection activities that will increase our performance in the second half of the year. Around the Rota 3, the impact in the CapEx of this project is less than 1% of the total CapEx of Petrobras and is not relevant for the total amount that we intend to spend for the rest of the year.
Thank you, João Henrique. The last question comes from Conrado Wagner with Safra, and it's for Rodrigo Costa. Rodrigo, with regards to the local gas distribution companies that had injunctions to suspend the price increase, has there been a new development? Is there any discussion being done directly with them?
Conrado Wagner, we had progress on the second quarter. We are on the table with distribution companies that has this legal situation around our contracts, and we expect close on the fourth quarter.
Thank you, Rodrigo. Thank you all. At this time, the Q&A session is over, and if you have any further questions, you can send them to our investor relations team. Rodrigo Araujo will now make his final remarks. Please, Rodrigo, go ahead.
Thank you, Carla. Thanks everyone for being here with us today, this morning. We're very glad with the solid operational results and of course with the translation of the results into solid financial results for the company in the second part of the year. Thank you for your time and for the questions. Please look at our results and our releases in the company's IR website. We have also released alongside with the earnings release our financial statements and our tax report for the second quarter of 2022. Thank you for your time, and thank you for being with us. We're very happy with the results of the second quarter. Thank you.