Category: Mexico

Though it’s still the third-largest source of foreign crude, imports from Mexico are at their lowest levels in a decade, the U.S. Energy Department said. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, said the United States imported 850,000 barrels of oil per day from Mexico last year, the lowest level since 1993. The trend has developed in part as a result of increased production from shale reserves areas in the United States. Coupled with declines in Mexican oil production and exports to the United States are down 47 percent from 1993, EIA said. On the other hand, increased U.S. oil production means exports of petroleum products to the Mexican market have increased 152 percent in the same period and most of that has been in the form of motor gasoline. The Mexican government in December enacted legislation that ends the 75-year […]

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In late 2013, Mexico’s congress approved historic legislation that altered the 1938 ban on private sector participation in the Mexican energy sector. These reforms, that end the 75-year monopoly of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and allow for greater foreign investment, are the first to include constitutional change, and promise to address many of the challenges that have resulted in a decade-long decline in Mexico’s oil production. Last year, Mexico produced 2.90 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of total liquids, continuing the decline from its peak of 3.85 million bbl/d in 2004. Crude oil is the most significant component of Mexico’s liquid fuels production, accounting for at least 85% of production in the past two decades. Preliminary estimates indicate April 2014 production of crude oil was about 2.5 million bbl/d, the lowest monthly average since 1995. The new reforms include the following: Create four oil and […]

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Mexico has become a net importer of petroleum products in its trade with the U.S. for the first time in at least 40 years, a significant industrial shift for a country that has long been proud of its status as one of the world’s top crude-oil exporters. Mexico still exports more than a million barrels a day of crude oil, but it imports just about everything else: natural gas, gasoline, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, and petrochemicals. In the first three months of the year, the country posted a petroleum deficit of about $551 million with the U.S., according to recent Bank of Mexico data. The newfound dominance of the U.S. energy sector is relevant for a country that has long been proud of its status as a "petroleum nation," after former President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalized the industry in 1938. The shift comes partly from the U.S. energy boom […]

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Mexican officials said Monday they expect to open bidding on the first round of private oil contracts in the first half of 2015. A constitutional reform passed last year opened the state-owned energy sector to private investment. But enabling legislation is still before congress. Assistant Energy Secretary Lourdes Melgar said the first round of bidding is expected to offer a range of onshore, offshore and deep water fields. Melgar said Mexico hopes to have private companies producing a half million barrels of oil a day by 2018, while state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos should maintain production at about 2.5 million barrels a day. Mexican tax authorities said they expect government revenue, on average, to be about 50 percent of production value from private projects operated under contract, license or concession. Petroleos Mexicanos, known as Pemex, will have first choice of which fields to develop. Those […]

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Mexico expects an increase in crude-oil production in the next few years to come primarily from the reactivation of mature oil fields, which would be included along with other types of deposits in the first rounds of bidding involving private companies. "Additional production will come for example from mature oil fields…fields that were producing in the 1930s and that could be exploited with new technology to increase production quickly," Lourdes Melgar, deputy minister for hydrocarbons at the Energy Ministry, said Tuesday at a meeting with reporters. The attraction of new, latest-generation technology is one of the central goals behind a historic energy overhaul promoted by President Enrique Peña Nieto that opens the oil and gas industry to competition, ending the monopoly of state company Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, and allowing private firms to exploit the country’s resources for the first time in 76 years. Last week, Mr. Peña […]

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Mexico expects an increase in crude-oil production in the next few years to come primarily from the reactivation of mature oil fields, which would be included along with other types of deposits in the first rounds of bidding involving private companies. "Additional production will come for example from mature oil fields…fields that were producing in the 1930s and that could be exploited with new technology to increase production quickly," Lourdes Melgar, deputy minister for hydrocarbons at the Energy Ministry, said Tuesday at a meeting with reporters. The attraction of new, latest-generation technology is one of the central goals behind a historic energy overhaul promoted by President Enrique Peña Nieto that opens the oil and gas industry to competition, ending the monopoly of state company Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, and allowing private firms to exploit the country’s resources for the first time in 76 years. Last week, Mr. Peña […]

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Mexico’s government on Wednesday outlined a raft of proposed laws to implement its historic drive to open up its oil and gas industry to competition, including rules that foreign companies will have to include a certain amount of Mexican parts and labor in their work by 2025. The rules set out by the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto were closely watched by the oil industry as a sign of how far the country might be willing to go to attract private investment. Analysts said the rules appeared to be aimed at drawing a large amount of investment quickly and would be positively viewed by most oil companies. The proposals–which were the fine print to sweeping changes to Mexico’s Constitution last December that ended the state monopoly on oil and gas and electricity–will now go to Mexico’s Congress, where they are widely […]

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Mexico’s financial health is at risk because of a declining oil sector. WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) — Mexico’s fiscal health is in jeopardy because of a declining rate of oil production, an analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.EIA updated its country profile for Mexico, noting the oil sector accounted for 13 percent of the country’s export earnings last year. Mexico is one of the top 10 oil-producing countries in the world, with an estimated 10 billion barrels of proven reserves as of 2013. EIA said Mexico produced an average 2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, a level that’s more than 20 percent less than its peak from 2004-09. "Notably, crude oil production in 2013 was at its lowest since 1995 and continues to decline thus far in 2014," it said in its Thursday report. EIA said the decline in oil production was having a direct […]

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Mexico plans to build a $1.4 billion "energy corridor" between the Gulf Coast and the Pacific, state energy company Pemex said Thursday, in what appears to be part of a drive to reduce the country’s dependence on the US market. Pemex said the strategy is based on linking the nation’s concentration of oil and gas production on the Gulf Coast with potential markets in Asia, Central and South America. The corridor would run along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec between the Gulf Coast oil and petrochemicals port of Pajaritos and Salina Cruz, the only Mexican oil port on the Pacific Coast. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand trends, government actions, exploration and […]

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;Mexico is seeking to draw up a flexible tax framework for private companies interested in the opening of the country’s oil and gas industry, in a bid to become a competitive option for investors in the North American energy sector. The government and the main conservative opposition are in early talks on a blueprint that completes the historic constitutional changes passed last December. The legislation, which is the cornerstone of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s plans to lift economic growth, opens the door for the return of private firms to exploration and production activities in Mexico after a 75-year absence. The tax framework is important because it defines how much money will be paid to private investors for taking exploratory and production risks, and how much will end up in the hands of the state as the original owner of the oil and gas resources. Investors are awaiting the […]

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