PEMEX reports the lowest oil levels in almost half a century and Cuba suffers the consequences

2024-03-28 16:03:14

Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360

Foto: Nelson Antoine / Shutterstock

The Mexican PEMEX registers its worst level of oil production in the last 45 years, with an equally negative forecast, after closing with 1,805,000 barrels per day in February, below the total of last January. This, of course, is affecting Cuba, because even though fuel shipments are decreasing, it represented help in the face of the critical energy situation.

This state company fell 2.40% in February compared to the same month in 2023, which represents about 38,000 barrels per day (bpd) less, according to the report from the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).

Media such as Forbes magazine, focused on the analyzes of Banco BASE, specialized in international trade, reported that PEMEX, for two consecutive months, reported the lowest crude oil production in 45 years and, in fact, marked the lowest point since October 1979, when production was 1,510 million barrels per day.

This company, says Banco Base, may represent a risk for Mexico’s public finances, due to its indebtedness and its support from the Government to meet its debt obligations. That is to say, lower profitability can infer a need for greater support, with the consequent impact on public finances. The debt with its suppliers amounts to 8,000 million dollars, due to the increase in operating costs and the reduction of its profit margin.

The oil company’s gas production did not escape this panorama. It experienced a drop of 5.59% in February, with national production 4,047 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd), compared to 4,287MMcfd in the same period of 2023.

PEMEX today has 6,841 producing wells, 4,032 for oil and associated gas, and 2,809 for non-associated gas and condensate.

And the case of Cuba?

Official figures indicated that, in 2023, 5.5 million barrels of oil were delivered to Cuba, worth almost 400 million dollars. But the numbers have plummeted.

Jorge Piñón, director of the Energy Program for Latin America and the Caribbean at the University of Texas, explained to Diario de Cuba that, until now, the tanker Esperanza loaded in Pajaritos on March 5 and unloaded in Cienfuegos on the 8th, and this It has been the only movement of oil between Mexico and Cuba that has been reported this month.

It seems that the lifeline that the island’s government had during the second half of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 is coming loose. Let us remember that before that date, the Aztec country had only sent oil shipments to Cuba very punctually. Meanwhile, PEMEX has preferred not to provide financial details about its transfers to the Island.