Mexico oil exports fall in Dec to 1.28mn bpd

MEXICO CITY: Mexico's oil exports fell in December from a month earlier even as crude production rose slightly over the same period to 2.557 million barrels per day (bpd), state oil company Pemex said on Friday.

Oil production was up in December from 2.529 million bpd pumped in November 2011.

Exports, however, slipped to 1.282 million bpd of oil in December from 1.362 million bpd shipped in November, Pemex said.

Mexican monthly oil output has been little changed since 2009 as Pemex has slowed the rate of natural decline at its largest fields.Oil production has fallen off since a peak of 3.4 million bpd in 2004, damaging government finances since Mexico depends on oil revenues to fund around a third of its budget.

Earlier this month, Pemex announced a discovery off the coast of the state of Veracruz but said it was still evaluating the potential of the resource.

Output at Mexico's largest oil complex, Ku Maloob Zap, reached 842,519 bpd in November, while the second largest field Cantarell produced 400,587 bpd that month, according to data from the energy ministry. December data was not yet published by the ministry.

Mexico, among the world's top 10 oil producers, is a major crude exporter to the United States but must import around 40 percent of its gasoline because it lacks domestic refining capacity.

Copyright Reuters, 2012