Carso Energy revenues drop on currency effects, drought in Panama

Carso Energy, the energy unit of Mexican conglomerate Grupo Carso, reported lower revenues and profits for the second quarter of 2024, reflecting the appreciation of the peso against the dollar in the first half of the year.

Revenue fell 11.7% to 796 million pesos (US$43.9mn) from 902mn pesos in the second quarter of last year. Operating profit fell 11% to 617mn pesos. 

Lower rainfall in Panama also impacted the performance of the company's two hydroelectric plants in the country.

Carso said its pipelines, which transport natural gas to industrial users and power plants operated by Mexico's state-owned utility CFE, continued to perform well. Revenues from these pipelines are also in US dollars.

A new compressor station on the Samalayuca-Sásabe pipeline was completed in December 2023 and is now operational, the company said, increasing the duct's capacity.

Carso Energy is currently building the 416km Centauro del Norte pipeline, which extends the Samalayuca-Sásabe pipeline to users in Baja California.

Grupo Carso, owned by business mogul Carlos Slim, is increasing its investments in the Mexican energy industry. This year the company acquired Mexican upstream operator PetroBal for US$530mn, giving it a 50% share of two offshore oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Earlier this month, Carso said it had reached a US$1.2 billion deal with national oil company Pemex to develop the Lakach gas field in the Gulf of Mexico.