Brazilian output of oil and natural gas rose 12 percent in April compared with a year earlier as the country brought on long-delayed offshore oil projects, oil regulator ANP said on Monday.

Forty-three companies produced 2.99 million barrels of oil and equivalent natural gas a day (boepd) compared with 2.67 million barrels a year earlier, the ANP said in a statement.

Output fell 0.9 percent from March.

The No. 1 producer remained Petroleo Brasileiro SA , known as Petrobras, which owned 2.53 million boepd, or 85 percent, of Brazil's total, up from 83 percent in March

BG Group Plc was second, with 167,560 boepd, or 5.6 percent of Brazil's output. When output from Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which is buying BG for $70 billion, is added, the combined BG-Shell output in Brazil rises to 197,659 boepd, or 6.6 percent of Brazilian production.