PEMEX PRODUCTION DOWN TO 1.62 MBD

REUTERS- Mexico's Pemex produced 1.62 million barrels of crude per day in January, less than any month in almost three decades, the state-owned oil company said on Friday, underscoring the challenges facing a government that vows to pump far more in a few years.

The company's crude output for the month was the lowest since at least 1990, when Pemex's publicly available records begin.

The firm's crude oil output has declined for 14 consecutive years since hitting a peak of 3.4 million bpd in 2004, as Mexico's most prolific fields have dried up and new ones to replace them have not been discovered.

Pemex's crude production averaged 1.81 million bpd in 2018.

The company's crude oil exports also fell in January to total 1.07 million bpd, down nearly 10 percent from 2018 average shipments of 1.18 million bpd.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December and ran on a promise of strengthening the ailing company, long a national treasure, has said he will grow its output to around 2.5 million bpd by the end of his six-year term in 2024.

Lopez Obrador has yet to fully outline how Pemex alone will be able to reverse the long-standing slide, but he did push through a larger budget for the company this year, in addition to a fresh capital injection from the government and lower tax bill.

The veteran leftist has canceled oil and gas auctions open to private and foreign oil companies and he has said he will not allow Pemex to enter into any additional near-term joint venture partnerships with other firms.

Both strategies were linchpins of the previous government's efforts to grow oil output in Mexico from both Pemex's operations as well as those of new entrants into the market like U.S.-based major Exxon Mobil and France's Total .

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Earlier:

2018, December, 27, 17:30:00 PEMEX PRODUCTION DOWN PLATTS - The downward trend in output from Mexico's state oil company Pemex continued in November as oil and gas production fell 2.7% and 2.3% respectively, from the previous month, company data showed Wednesday.

2018, November, 30, 11:20:00 MEXICO'S GAS DOWN U.S. EIA - Dry natural gas production in Mexico has fallen 38% since 2012 because of declining reserves, a low price environment, and limited exploration and production of new wells. Mexico’s dry natural gas production was 2.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in October 2018, according to Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX).

2018, November, 11, 07:49:00 MEXICO'S GROWTH 2.1 - 2.3% IMF - Mexico's growth is expected to accelerate modestly in the near term, reaching 2.1 percent in 2018 and 2.3 percent in 2019. Private consumption remains the main driver of activity, supported by manufacturing exports. Private investment strengthened somewhat in recent quarters but continues to be held back by uncertainty, including, until recently, about Mexico’s future trade relationship with the United States.

2018, October, 29, 12:05:00 PEMEX NET INCOME 27 BLN PESOS PEMEX - Upon comparing the results of this quarter with the same quarter for the previous year, the following items stand out: (i) total sales increased by 33%; (ii) operation yield recorded a significant improvement of 83% and currently at 54 billion pesos; and (iii) the company recorded a net income of 27 billion pesos, compared to losses of 102 billion pesos recorded the previous year.

2018, August, 1, 08:55:00 PEMEX NET LOSS MXN 163 BLN PEMEX - Pemex achieved total sales for 254 billion pesos in the second quarter of 2018, a figure 36% higher than the result obtained during the same quarter of the previous year. Operating yields were 120 billion pesos, a growth almost 37% greater than the second quarter of 2017. Operation, management, distribution and sales costs remained stable and aligned with the current austerity and expenditure policies.

2017, October, 30, 11:10:00 PEMEX PRODUCTION DOWN 18% Reuters - Mexican national oil company Pemex reported on Friday that September crude production fell 18 percent from the same month last year, marking three consecutive months with oil output coming in below 2 million barrels per day.

2016, November, 23, 18:35:00 IMF WANTS PEMEX A particularly important aspect of this consolidation pertains to reforms in PEMEX, the state-owned oil company. Earlier this month, PEMEX released a five-year business plan that aims at turning the company profitable by 2020, through efficiency improvements and a focus on high-return activities.