Pemex posts a loss

Sagging oil prices bruise the firm’s bottom line, despite a positive quarterly upstream performance

Mexican president Andres Lopez Obrador identified four key targets for Pemex, the state-owned oil and gas company, shortly after assuming office last December: boosting upstream crude production to 2.6mn bl/d by the end of 2024, reaching self-sufficiency in domestic refining, tackling rampant fuel theft and stabilising the company’s massive debt pile. Simultaneously, Lopez Obrador set his government the onerous task of meeting these objectives while considerably scaling back on direct foreign investment in Mexico’s energy sector— planned licensing round auctions under his predecessor were cancelled at the start of the year. Pemex’s third quarter results show the start of some progress toward