PEMEX NET LOSS $7.7 BLN
According to WSJ, mexican state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos on Thursday said it recorded an after-tax loss of $4.4 billion in the second quarter, as lower oil prices and output hit sales and hefty exchange losses boosted its financial costs.
Sales in the quarter fell 17% from a year earlier to $13.5 billion.
Pemex's hydrocarbons production fell 3.4% in the quarter, with crude oil output down 2.2% to 2.18 million barrels a day and natural gas output off 6.4% at 5.88 billion cubic feet a day.
Crude oil prices averaged $36.69 per barrel compared with $52.92 in the second quarter of 2015. Output of the company's refineries fell 5.4%, partly because of unscheduled maintenance shutdowns.
The second-quarter loss was slightly smaller in Mexican peso terms than that of a year earlier. Meanwhile, Pemex's operating profit rose 91% to $6.6 billion, lifted by reduced cost of sales.
The peso's slide to new lows against the U.S. dollar in the quarter led to foreign exchange losses of $5.7 billion.
Taxes and duties fell more than a third, reflecting lower oil prices and production, and an increase in investment in productive projects Pemex can deduct under measures taken by the federal government in April, which included a capital injection. Pemex also cut its planned 2016 budget by about $5.5 billion or 20%.
Financial support for Pemex came after the company had left suppliers of goods and services unpaid. Chief Financial Officer Juan Pablo Newman said in a conference call with analysts that Pemex has so far paid 112 billion pesos of the 147 billion pesos owed to suppliers and that the rest will be paid in the second half of the year.
Mr. Newman said Pemex, which had debt of around $96 billion at the end of June, has completed its financing program for 2016 but could prefund 2017 needs or carry out liability management operations in the second half of the year.
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Earlier:
MEXICO OPENS OIL & GAS MARKETS