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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras on Wednesday doubled an earlier scale back in production for a total cut of 200,000 barrels per day amid "the worst crisis in the oil industry in the last 100 years."

According to a company statement, "the current scenario is marked by an unprecedented combination of a sudden drop in the price of oil, a surplus in the market and a strong contraction in the global demand for oil and fuels."

Last week, Petrobras said it was cutting oil output by 100,000 barrels per day through the end of March to adapt to the realities of a world market hit by a global pandemic.

The International Energy Agency has said the pandemic could reduce the demand for oil by 20 percent, equivalent to 20 million barrels per day.

A Brazilian association of gas stations has reported a near 50-percent drop in demand at the gas pump.

Petrobras has also implemented spending cuts to bring down the cost of operations in 2020 by some 2 billion U.S. dollars, including reducing the work day from eight to six hours for some 21,000 workers.