Pemex produces 3.38 million barrels of crude a day in 2004

The Associated Press

Mexico’s state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, produced 3.38 million barrels a day of crude oil last year, up from 3.37 million barrels daily in 2003, according to data released Jan. 18.

Of that output, 2.46 million barrels were heavy Maya crude, 790,000 were light Isthmus and 135,000 were extra light Olmeca.

Pemex exported 1.87 million barrels a day during the year at an average price of $31.01 per barrel, up from 1.84 million barrels daily in 2003 at $24.77 a barrel.

Mexican crude sold abroad for $11.01 a barrel more than the government had forecast in its annual budget, producing windfall profits.

This year, Congress raised the budget estimate to $27 a barrel, a price that Pemex executives say is too optimistic. The budget also calls for the state oil company to turn out 3.44 million barrels a day of crude this year, and export 1.95 million barrels daily.

About 80 percent of Mexican crude exports head to the United States, and Pemex is one of that country’s top foreign oil suppliers.