The rise in crude oil prices gives Pemex a breath of fresh air in the first quarter of 2022

The increase in the prices of hydrocarbons at a global level has given a break to Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

During the first quarter of the year, the oil company reported a 60% increase in sales compared to the same period in 2021, going from 317,000 million pesos to more than 506,000 million pesos in revenue.

In addition, in the first three months of 2022, it registered a net profit of over 122,000 million pesos, an improvement over the same period of the previous year when it had a loss of more than 37,000 million pesos.

"The most important variables that explain this situation are the recovery of prices worldwide and, to a lesser extent, the volumes sold," Antonio López Velarde, financial director of the state-owned company, said in his conference with investors.

During the first quarter of 2022, crude oil production continued its growth trend, with an average of 1.7 million barrels per day, not including partners, which is equivalent to a growth of 2.3% in relation to the production for the same period in 2021. "The incorporation of production from the new fields contributed significantly to these results," explained the director of Pemex Exploration and Production, Ángel Cid.

In its report to the Mexican Stock Exchange, the oil company recognizes the federal government's measure of price controls on sales of natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline and diesel as a risk.

"As a result of these price controls, Pemex has not been able to transfer all the increases in the prices of the products that its clients acquire in the domestic market when the peso depreciates against the dollar," he says.

For the first time since its acquisition, the state-owned company accounted for the operation of the Deer Park refinery.

The CEO of Pemex, Octavio Romero Oropeza, announced that during the first quarter this new asset added a profit of 195 million dollars.

The complex was acquired last January for 1,600 million pesos.

The transaction is part of the strategy of the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to prioritize gasoline refining to reduce the import of large quantities of fuel from abroad.

Payment of taxes and duties by Pemex to the Mexican government during the first three months of the year totaled 99.6 billion pesos, an increase of 85% also due to the recovery in the price of the Mexican mix.

Regarding hydrocarbon theft, theft rose 40% from January to March of this year, compared to the same period in 2022, going from 4,300 barrels per day to 6,000 barrels per day.

Energy sovereignty has been one of the main banners of the Government of López Obrador.

The shift consists, in essence, in progressively closing the tap of crude oil abroad so that in 2023 all production can be converted into fuel in Mexico or in state plants.

The directors of Pemex emphasized the support that the oil company continues to have from the federal government.

A support that is confirmed in the figures.

During the first months of the year, the parastatal received some 45,400 million pesos from the Administration for the payment of debt amortizations in the form of capital contributions.

Despite this capital injection, as of March 31, 2020, the total amount of Pemex's financial debt exceeded 108,000 million dollars.

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