Pemex Crude Exports Hit Lowest April Level in Over Three Decades
Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex recorded its lowest crude oil export volume for April since at least 1990, shipping 418,284 b/d during the month, according to the latest company data. The figure was also 35.4% lower than a year ago.
Pemex’s April crude exports saw a modest increase from March, when the company exported 415,113 b/d.
Exports have partially recovered since falling to an all-time monthly low of 294,453 b/d in January, to 517,784 b/d in February.
As part of Mexico’s energy sovereignty goal, President Claudia Sheinbaum has promised to significantly reduce the country’s crude exports to focus on private domestic supply.
Luis Miguel Labardini, managing partner at Energy Experts, a Mexico City-based investment banking firm focused on the energy sector, said he believes the government should increase crude exports to take advantage of current international prices.
He added that Mexico could import lighter crude grades that are better suited to the feedstock requirements of the Mexican domestic refineries.
“The government is missing out on crude exports, which at this moment would be a very good business,” he said in an interview with OPIS.
Pemex reached a record high for crude exports in December 2003, when shipments exceeded 2.14 million b/d. The company only surpassed the 2 million b/d mark again in January 2006, when exports averaged 2.05 million b/d.
But since former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration, Mexico has been reducing its volume of crude exports to reach the fuel self-sufficiency goal by refining most of the crude locally.
The average price of Mexico’s crude export blend stood at $103.70/bbl in May, according to data from the Banco de México, Banxico, the highest level since June 2022.
The Mexican blend averaged $95.68/bbl in April and $87.22/bbl in March.
“Given current international oil prices, it is much more economically rational to export crude than to produce expensive fuels domestically,” said Labardini.
He added that he expects the downward trend in exports to reverse in the coming months, allowing Mexico to increase crude shipments abroad as long as international prices remain attractive.
April also marked the first month since records began in 1990 in which Pemex’s crude exports to Europe exceeded shipments to destinations in the Americas.
During the month, Pemex exported 181,637 b/d of crude to Europe, compared with 173,376 b/d to the Americas and 63,271 b/d to Asia, according to the company’s recent data.
“There is a deliberate effort to diversify the destinations of the remaining exportable crude,” Labardini said.
Last month, Sheinbaum announced that Mexico would ship 1 million barrels of crude to Japan in July as part of an open-ended supply agreement.
“Japan is currently facing a shortage of oil due to disruptions linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” she said on April 26.
Reporting by José Luis Adriano, jadriano@opisnet.com; Editing by Karla Omaña, komana@opisnet.com and Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com