Mexican oil exports jump in Jan-Aug, but boom set to cool

High global energy prices boosted revenue from crude oil exports from Mexico over the first eight months of 2022.

Private sector operators saw their relatively small share of the market gain somewhat in the period, according to data from the hydrocarbons regulator (CNH) and information service (CNIH).

Official data showed crude oil exports reached US$22.3bn in the first eight months of 2022, up 42% from the figure reported in the same period of last year. 

The bulk of the increase came in the first six months of 2022 when the Mexican mix climbed to US$119/b (per barrel) at its peak on March 8, close to an all-time high.

Meanwhile, the handful of private oil companies securing contracts to develop fields during the previous administration (2012-18) achieved record production in August.

Nationwide output in August averaged 1.846Mb/d (million barrels per day), including crude and liquid condensates, and 1.626Mb/d on average for liquid crude.

CNIH reported that private players contributed 106,000b/d, up 4,000b/d from July, while 1.520Mb/d came from national oil company Pemex’s E&P unit PEP, supported heavily by output from the Ek Balam field, which reached an average 77,344b/d. 

Among the private operators, Eni led thanks to solid output from the Amoca, Miztón and Tecoalli (AMT) field,fields CNH, with the asset now ahead of Hokchi’s output from the Ichalkil and Pokoch fields, which had been the top private producers since November 2021.

Eni’s deployment of the Miamte FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading unit) in February has bolstered production at AMT. August, however, saw the company breaking a three-month downtrend in AMT output, hitting a record 20,364b/d on average.

This was a sharp 51.1% uptick of 9,911b/d from July output.

CNIH data showed that the Ichalkil and Pokoch fields generated 23,589b/d of crude in August, up 4.21% compared with July.

UNCERTAIN TIMES

Hydrocarbon exports appear to be in a down cycle as oil prices eased back from the record highs seen around March after Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.

While the situation remains unresolved, advances by Ukrainian forces and possible weakening of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin are for now outweighing concerns that Europe could face a serious energy supply crisis if the coming winter is especially harsh.

The average price of the Mexican mix in August came to US$87.15/b, down 9.5% from the July average, and the 50% surge in global oil prices seen during the price peak earlier this year has now moderated to 10% over pre-2022 prices.

And beyond Ukraine, concerns of a global recession are beginning to pull down commodity prices in general.

Pemex saw exports fall 22% in August compared with July, with exports at US$2.471bn, breaking a streak of sales running above US$3bn for four consecutive months, reported news outlet Oil & Gas Magazine.

Likewise, Pemex’s crude exports dropped 13.8% month-on-month to 915,000b/d in August.

In late 2021, Pemex announced that it was refocusing to eliminate crude exports entirely by 2023, rerouting production to domestic refining, with home-produced gasoline and diesel now the priority under the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.