Mexican Petroleum Reports 9.3 Per Cent Drop in Volume From January to May

Text of report by respected Mexican business newspaper El Financiero website on 23 June

[Report by Esther Arzate: "Revenue increases with declining crude oil production"]

Mexico’s oil production managed a slight increase of 22,000 barrels in May compared to April, but it reported a 9.3 per cent drop in total volume in the first five months of this year compared to the same period of 2007, for an average of 2.859 million barrels per day.

With that, oil exports from January through May totalled 1.462 million barrels per day, i.e., 252,800 barrels less than in the same period of last year. That represents a 14.7 per cent drop because of the decline in the production of Cantarell, Mexican Petroleum [Pemex] reported.

With that, crude oil sales abroad generated $19.859 billion in revenue, at a weighted price of $89.40 per barrel. That price is 76 per cent greater than that obtained in the same period of last year and is equivalent to almost double the estimate used in the 2008 Expenditures Budget of the Federation. That amount is 51.2 per cent greater than that obtained in the same period of 2007.

In May alone, crude oil production was 2.798 million barrels per day, or 312,000 barrels less than in the same month of last year. That was the result of the decline of Cantarell, whose production fell by 439,000 barrels compared to the same month of 2007, and “other situations of an operational nature.” Officials at the parastate company have mentioned leaks in a pipeline that affected production in April and May, but no details have been provided officially by the parastate company.

Nevertheless, Pemex notes that the Ku-Maloob-Zaap asset increased its production from January through May, increasing it to 677,000 barrels per day in the first five months of the year compared to the 480,000 barrels obtained in the same period of last year.

Pemex indicated that in January through May of this year the volume of imports of petroleum products like gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas increased 15.4 per cent, going from 438,200 barrels per day to 505,500 barrels per day.

The increase was due mainly to higher gasoline purchases, which went from 281,100 barrels per day in the first five months of last year to 323,300 barrels in the same period of 2008.

Originally published by El Financiero website, Mexico City, in Spanish 23 Jun 08.

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