Pemex Trading Arm Mulls Canceling May-June Cargos
The trading arm of Mexican state oil company Pemex is mulling options to slash the number of fuel cargoes the country imports in May and June as demand plummets because of the coronavirus, three sources close to the talks told Reuters.Pemex last week declared force majeure over fuel supplies from its trading arm PMI Comercio Internacional after a bottleneck of more than 60 vessels built up outside Mexican ports, waiting to discharge.But PMI still has not declared force majeure - a contract provision…
Oil Companies Swap Stakes in Mexico
With Mexico's government insisting that energy companies increase oil and gas output before it auctions off more of the country's vast reserves or offers more partnerships with state-run Pemex, firms ranging from foreign majors to local players are scrambling to buy and sell blocks they already own.The negotiations are creating a dynamic secondary market for oil acreage, which could be the only investment opportunity left for firms until leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador unblocks…
Pemex Won't Pay Ransom After Cyberattack
Mexican national oil company Pemex will not pay a ransom demanded by suspected cyberattackers who targeted the firm's computer systems, Energy Minister Rocio Nahle told reporters on Wednesday.Nahle, who also serves as chair of the Pemex board, added that the attack hit the company's administrative headquarters in Mexico City and that its "plants and wells" continued to operate.Hackers have demanded some $5 million in bitcoin from Pemex.The hack was first detected on Sunday, forcing the company to shut down computers across Mexico and freezing systems such as payments, according to employees and internal emails.(R
Hackers Demand $5M from Pemex
Hackers demanded about $5 million in bitcoin from Mexico's Pemex, they told Reuters on Tuesday, saying the state oil firm missed a special discount by not paying immediately after a cyberattack that fouled up the company's systems.The hack, which Pemex said it detected on Sunday, forced the company to shut down computers across Mexico, freezing systems such as payments, according to five employees and internal emails.Hackers have increasingly targeted companies with malicious programs that can cripple systems overseeing everything from supply chains to manufacturing…
Pemex Struck by Ransomware Attack
A ransomware attack hit computer servers and halted administrative work on Monday at Mexican state oil firm Pemex, according to employees and internal emails, in hackers' latest bid to wring ransom from a major company.Hackers have increasingly targeted companies with malicious programs that can cripple systems overseeing everything from supply chains to payments to manufacturing, removing them only after receiving substantial payments.An internal email seen by Reuters said Pemex was targeted by "Ryuk…
Pemex Posts $4.4 Bln Loss
Slumping revenues pushed Mexico's Petroleos Mexicanos to a net loss of 87.4 bln pesos ($4.43 billion) in the third quarter, but the struggling state oil firm said on Monday it had cut back its hefty debt load, bucking the trend of recent years.Pemex, as the company is generally known, held financial debts of $106 billion at the end of 2018, and it has been under intense pressure from international credit rating agencies to get its finances onto a more sustainable path.Fitch in June became the first major credit rating agency to downgrade Pemex's bonds to so-called junk status.
Mexico Unveils Pemex Business Plan
Mexico on Tuesday unveiled parts of a keenly awaited business plan meant to bring the world's most indebted oil company back from the abyss, but its vow of $7.2 billion in government support failed to dispel worries of a ratings downgrade.Octavio Romero, CEO of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex , presented the broad outlines of the 200-page plan at a news conference, saying a complete version would be published later on Tuesday.Romero said the plan addressed an onerous profit-sharing tax that hands…
Mexico Punishes Former Pemex CEO
Mexico's government has punished the former chief executive of state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos for misuse of public funds in the purchase of fertilizer business Fertinal, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.The Public Administration Ministry announced on Wednesday that it had sanctioned two senior executives at the firm, known as Pemex, from the previous administration, without identifying the executives. One of the executives was former chief executive Emilio Lozoya, according…
Mexico Could Pay Pemex Debt from Stabilization Fund
Mexico's deputy finance minister said on Thursday the government was considering using part of a $15.4 billion public income stabilization fund to pay some debt obligations for heavily leveraged state oil company Pemex.The finance ministry is working on a new design for the fund to make it counter cyclical, deputy minister Arturo Herrera said in an interview with TV network ADN40, during a banking conference in Acapulco.Grappling with Pemex's financial health has been a key challenge for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who took office in December.
Pemex Unit Fined $22 Mln by Competition Authority
Mexico's competition authority said on Tuesday that it has fined a unit of state-owned oil company Pemex for presenting an annual compliance report on antimonopoly measures in the recently opened fuel market a year after it was due.The Federal Commission for Economic Competition, or COFECE, fined Pemex's Industrial Transformation unit, responsible for a range of refining and logistical activities, 418.31 million pesos ($22.1 million) for the late report.COFECE said the report, one of the measures…
Mexican President Defends Energy Reform from Leftist Attacks
Mexico's president on Thursday defended his decision to open the energy sector against attacks from the man currently favorite to succeed him, saying a rollback of the measure could cost the country billions of dollars in lost investment. The 2013-14 legislative overhaul that ended state oil firm Pemex's decades-long monopoly was the centerpiece of President Enrique Pena Nieto's economic agenda, and leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is leading polls for the July 1 presidential election, has threatened to unpick it.
Long wait Ends for Big Oil as Mexico Auctions Prized Blocks
Mexico will on Wednesday offer foreign energy firms the right to drill beneath prized deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico that may contain billions of barrels of oil, the climax of an historic energy reform just five months before a presidential election. The auction of 29 blocks is the biggest since the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto enacted a wide-ranging reform that aimed to attract hundreds of billions of dollars of investment to turn around a state-run oil industry in decline.
Trafigura Wins Mexico Crude Trading Contract
Mexico's oil regulator said on Thursday it had assigned trader Trafigura a three-year contract to commercialize crude oil the government obtains from the new scheme of contracts derived from an energy reform. Until now, PMI, the commercial arm of Mexican state oil firm Pemex, has been the only company that commercializes the government's hydrocarbons. But the 2014 energy reform mandated that, starting next year, companies should compete to commercialize the oil and gas that the state obtains under new production-sharing contracts.
Worker Found Dead in Pemex Salamanca Refinery
Mexican state oil company Pemex said on Wednesday that a worker was found dead at its Salamanca refinery in the central state of Guanajuato. The worker was found on the railroad when employees were moving empty tank cars on Tuesday, Pemex said in a statement. Public prosecutors would investigate the death. Salamanca is Pemex's fifth-largest refinery and can process 220,000 barrels per day. Reporting by Adriana Barrera
Pemex to Cut Stake in Nobilis-Maximino Deepwater Tie-up
The stake held by Mexican state oil firm Pemex in the potentially lucrative Nobilis-Maximino deep water tie-up near the U.S. maritime border will be cut from 49 percent to 40 percent, an official at the company said on Thursday. Mexico's oil regulator said it expects the first commercial barrels from Nobilis-Maximino to come by 2024, with peak output of 174,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and 265 million cubic feet of natural gas per day coming online in 2026. Cesar Fernandez, a legal official at Pemex, announced the change at meeting of Mexico's CNH oil regulator.
Pemex Posts $1.8bln 2Q Profit
Mexico's state run oil company Pemex on Thursday posted 32.8 billion peso ($1.8 billion) profit in second quarter, helped by higher sales and lower financial costs. Pemex posted a 83.5 billion peso loss in the same period last year. Reporting by Michael O'Boyle and Adriana Barrera
Mexico Expects Four More Oil Auctions by Year's End
Mexico expects to launch four more oil and gas auctions before the current president's term concludes at the end of November 2018, Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said at a conference on Thursday. The government has previously said three more tenders were planned, but Joaquin Coldwell said a fourth would be a mix of fields including some deep water areas. (Reporting by Adriana Barrera)
Mexico Auctions Two-thirds of Blocks in Shallow Water Oil Tender
Mexico on Monday auctioned two-thirds of the shallow water oil and gas blocks up for grabs in the latest round of its energy market opening, surpassing the cautious estimates of officials last week. Italy's Eni, Colombia's Ecopetrol and Capricorn Energy, a unit of Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy , were among the companies at the forefront of the bidding for 15 blocks in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Ten of the 15 blocks were taken up in the auction. Eni took one of the blocks by itself and two in consortium with other companies. One comprised Capricorn and Mexican oil firm Citla, the other was with Citla alone.
Pemex Fined $20 Mln for Anti-competitive Fuel Practices
Mexico's antitrust watchdog has fined a division of state-owned oil company Pemex for failing to establish a competitive fuel market, the agency said on Monday. Pemex's Industrial Transformation unit, responsible for a range of refining and transport activities, was fined nearly 369 million pesos ($20.3 million) for the "possible commission of a monopolistic practice... According to a statement from the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece), the Pemex unit has not complied with its…
No Bids for 6th Oil Block in Mexico's Salina Basin
Mexico's oil regulator said there were no bidders for the sixth block tendered in the Gulf of Mexico's Salina Basin a historic deep water oil and gas auction on Monday. (Reporting by Adriana Barrera)
