Petrobras, as the company is known, posted a net profit of 10.072 billion reais ($2.69 billion), well above the 360 million reais it reported a year earlier, when it was hit by a one-time tax-related charge.

The company had been expected to earn $1.505 billion in the quarter, according to analysts' estimates.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of operational profit known as EBITDA, rose to 30.067 billion reais, from 19.094 billion reais in the same period last year.

Results were supercharged by a pick-up in oil prices to over $70 per barrel, helping revenue rise to 84.395 billion reais ($22.51 billion), from 66.996 billion reais in the same period last year, when oil traded at well below $60 a barrel.?