Photo: Deposit Photos

By KELIN DILLON

Halfway through the six-year administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has lost 38.4 percent of its stake in the world’s energy market, dropping out of the top 10 most important international oil companies.

Just in 2017, Pemex ranked highly in value according to British firm Brand Finance’s index, behind other major companies like Shell, Chevron and Exxon, at a $8.47 billion evaluation. Now, just four years later and three years into AMLO’s term, Pemex has lost its top 10 spot and dipped in value by nearly half to $5.54 billion.

Despite economic hardships brought on by the covid-19 pandemic, Brand Finance’s index indicated that seven of the top 10 rival oil companies actually increased their value over this period of time, while Pemex suffered a loss of 23.5 percent in value.

Brand Finance’s Oil and Gas 50 2021 report went on to say that the Pemex brand lost 38.4 percent of its value between 2019 and July of 2021.

“The drop in Pemex’s brand value is mainly due to unfavorable financial results in a much more competitive context, in which the state-owned company is losing market share,” said Brand Finance.

The report likewise noted that Pemex lost its spot as the most profitable enterprise in Mexico in 2020, when brewery Corona took the crown.