Pemex headquarters in Mexico City
Mexico must overhaul its NOC
Crucial structural reforms and change in operating philosophy are needed to arrest PEMEX’s ongoing decline and restore oil production growth
Mexico’s crude oil output has dropped sharply to around 1.4m b/d, down from a peak of more than 3m b/d in the early 2000s, posing significant challenges for the upstream sector and the government. State oil company PEMEX accounts for most of the country’s oil output, producing about 95% of domestic crude as of 2025. The company faces unprecedented financial and operational pressure as President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration seeks to balance state control over hydrocarbons with debt reduction and supply stability by prioritising unconventional resource development, among other initiatives. While energy analysts remain doubtful about the success of these measures in the long run, they cou
Also in this section
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
6 March 2026
After Europe’s rapid buildout of floating LNG import capacity, Exmar CEO Carl-Antoine Saverys says future growth in floating gas infrastructure will increasingly be driven by developing markets as lower prices, rising energy demand and the need to replace coal unlock new opportunities for unconventional and tailor-made solutions
