- The volume of crude oil exports has increased by an average of 267,000 barrels per day, a figure that had not been achieved since November 1998
- PEMEX remains the country's largest taxpayer
- Gasoline sales have increased by 21 per cent as compared with the same period of the previous year, while jet fuel sales have gone up 65 per cent and diesel sales 47 per cent
Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza announced the results achieved over the first two quarters of 2022, during which time the company has made continuous efforts to increase its production platform and has optimized the processing of crude oil, thus creating financial value in compliance with industry regulations while being environmentally friendly.
He explained that the change in exploration strategy focused on conventional shallow water and onshore basins has been essential for the incorporation of production through fast-track field development and a reserve increase, while operational excellence has made it possible to reduce drilling times by as much as one-third, resulting in a significant reduction in equipment rental costs.
Romero Oropeza pointed out that, as a result of these efforts, the second quarter of 2022 was the seventh consecutive quarter in which the production of liquids maintained its upward trend, presenting an average of 1.776 million barrels per day, an increase of 135 thousand barrels per day as compared with the production of 2019.
He emphasized that new field development is the cornerstone of production expansion, along with repair and maintenance work on wells. This has not only allowed the company to compensate for the decline of mature fields, but also to increase production.
The CEO stated that with the development of the new fields, the situation that forced Mexico to import crude oil in 2018 has been reversed and, the oil company is currently not only self-sufficient in terms of light crude oil production, but it also resumed exporting Istmo crude oil in December 2019, which generates revenues 75 percent above the budgeted amount. The export volume of this type of crude oil has increased to reach an average of 267,000 barrels per day during 2022, with a maximum production level of 351,000 barrels per day in April 2022, a figure that had not been reached since November 1998.
All this, said Octavio Romero, has been made possible thanks to the strategy shift in new field exploration and development, added to the fact that since 2020 PEMEX has maintained a higher rate in capital investment growth than other companies in the oil and gas industry. Even during the most complicated periods of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, this company not only maintained, but increased its investment expenditure, unlike other companies in the sector that reported a reduction in this category.
He further added that during the first semester, Petróleos Mexicanos saw an investment growth of 89 per cent compared with the same period in 2021, which placed it as the company with the highest investment rate in comparison with other companies in the oil sector. He also emphasized that in 2022 the renovation of the National Refining System will continue. Regarding the acquisition of the Deer Park refinery, he stated that operations continue with the highest standards and that the net result obtained by the refinery so far, the company has more than recovered the investment of the acquisition in under 6 months.
These improvements in operating results during the second quarter showed an operating profitability almost five times higher than the one registered in the same period of 2021. Accordingly, PEMEX reports net profits of $253.872 billion pesos during the first half of 2022.
While it is true that prices rose during the first half of the year, the CEO pointed out that, in other years with similar prices and increased production, the results obtained were much lower or represented losses.
He added that the company launched a strategy to recover sales in the domestic fuel market as Petróleos Mexicanos' most important source of income in the face of a drop in sales as a result of the Energy Reform, and achieved an increase of 21 per cent in gasoline sales in the first half of 2022 in comparison with the same period of the previous year, as well as an increase of 65 per cent for jet fuel and 47 per cent for diesel.
PEMEX's CEO confirmed that the institution continues to be the country's largest taxpayer and in fact it delivered $266 billion pesos in taxes to the Mexican Government from January to June 2022. In other words, it paid an additional $110 billion pesos as compared to the same period in 2021.
He remarked that Petróleos Mexicanos has endorsed the Commitments of the Mexican Government led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, by allocating an investment of two billion dollars of its own resources and international credits obtained at special rates, to cut methane gas emissions in the exploration and production processes by up to 98 per cent. In fact, in the first half of 2022, the use of gas increased by 37 per cent, which amounts to a reduction of 251 million cubic feet per day in gas emissions into the atmosphere.
