Mexico raises crude exports, gas imports

Gary Park, Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

The two-way flow of oil and natural gas across the U.S.-Mexico border showed strong gains in May, reflecting continued disappointment with its gas production.

State-owned Pemex reported that northward crude shipments were up 12.2 percent to 1.862 million barrels per day, 180 barrels per day inside Mexico’s self-imposed limit.

Total crude output for the month was 3.32 million barrels per day, 5.8 percent higher than a year earlier.

Exports earned $1.29 billion for the month, compared with almost $2 billion in April and $1.6 billion in May 2002.

Gas purchases from the United States were 874 million cubic feet per day, up from 613 million cubic feet per day in May last year as new gas-fired power plants came on line.

Pemex said Mexico’s gas production was 4.44 billion cubic feet per day, only a blip above last May’s 4.43 bcf per day, despite the rise in crude output, which yields about two-thirds of the country’s gas.

The struggle to hold the line increases pressure to develop the Burgos basin, which is expected to add 1 bcf per day to production.