Pemex Posts First Quarterly Profit in Five Years

Mexican national oil company Pemex on Wednesday reported a first quarter net profit of 87.9 billion pesos ($4.7 billion), the firm's first quarterly profit since 2012, on higher sales as crude prices rose despite lower output.

 

During the year earlier period, Pemex posted a loss of 62 billion pesos.

 

Revenue at the company officially known as Petroleos Mexicanos was up 55 percent to 349 billion pesos, according to a filing with the Mexican stock exchange.

 

First-quarter crude production stood at 2.018 million barrels per day (bpd), down 9.5 percent from average output of 2.23 million bpd during the January-March period last year.

 

Pemex hit peak crude production in 2004 with 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd), but since then the limping Mexican oil giant has seen output drop by more than 1.3 million bpd.

 

Long a major source of tax revenue for the nation's government, Pemex now contributes less than a fifth of federal revenue, down from more than a third a few years ago.

 

The Mexican government continues to implement a sweeping energy reform finalized in 2014.

 

The reform ended the decades-long production monopoly enjoyed by Pemex, and led to the first-ever competitive oil auctions and joint venture partnerships.


($1 = 18.7275 on March 31)

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia)