Pemex debt strategy at risk of unravelling
The Mexican firm had made some progress arresting its hefty debt pile, but the economic downturn and government obsession with upstream targets has started to take its toll
When President Andres Lopez Obrador romped to victory in Mexico’s 2018 election, one of his key pledges was to tackle state oil firm Pemex’s chronic debt problem. Total company debt had ballooned to over $100bn, rising at an annual rate of almost 14pc, while failing to halt rapidly declining crude production. At first, everything seemed to go according to plan. In 2019, Pemex managed to reduce its debt balance for the first time in 12 years, despite the government cancelling all bidding rounds, shunning foreign investment and saddling the NOC with the country’s upstream recovery programme. Pemex has until 2024 to revive national crude production to 2.4mn bl/d, mainly through the startup of 2
Also in this section
22 November 2024
The Energy Transition Advancement Index highlights how the Kingdom can ease its oil dependency and catch up with peers Norway and UAE
21 November 2024
E&P company is charting its own course through the transition, with a highly focused natural gas portfolio, early action on its own emissions and the development of a major carbon storage project
21 November 2024
Maintaining a competitive edge means the transformation must maximise oil resources as well as make strategic moves with critical minerals
20 November 2024
The oil behemoth recognises the need to broaden its energy mix to reduce both environmental and economic risks
