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By KELIN DILLON

According to internal documents reviewed by news agency Reuters, Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is planning on cutting its crude oil exports in favor of prioritizing gas production at its under-construction Dos Bocas oil refinery.

Pemex will reportedly reduce its crude oil exports by 436,000 barrels per day beginning in April, approximately half of its average export level. 

In comparison, Pemex exported a total of 940,000 barrels of crude oil in February 2024.

The canceled exports will instead be diverted to Dos Bocas, where they will instead be utilized for gasoline production.

“Either Pemex refines it or they export it; there is not enough crude oil for both,” a source told Reuters.

Pemex’s oil production likewise reached its lowest level in 45 years in February, impacting its refining capabilities.

However, Pemex’s decision to prioritize refining over exportation is poorly timed due to the projected rising price of crude oil, energy expert Arturo Carranza told daily Mexican newspaper Reforma.

“Today there is a very big opportunity to sell oil in international markets because oil prices are increasing; recently the United States Department of Energy raised its oil price forecast for all of 2024 to an average of $88 per barrel,” said Carranza.

Meanwhile, Pemex’s refining business cost the company 800 billion pesos in losses across the last five years, while its oil revenues dropped 31 percent year over year from 2022 to 2023.