Pemex reported a USD6.17 B first-quarter net profit, reversing a nearly USD2 B loss in the year-ago period, driven by foreign exchange gains, growing output and higher crude prices, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
Total financial debt at Pemex, one of the world's most indebted oil companies, edged down slightly to USD108.1 B from USD109 B at the end of 2021. Pemex attributed the improvement to strong Mexican government support and the company's own debt management operations.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pumped billions of dollars into Petroleos Mexicanos, as the company is formally known, in an effort to prioritize its health and achieve energy self-sufficiency during his term. The Mexican oil giant said it had received 45.4 B pesos (USD2.3 B) from the government to repay debt during the first three months of the year, as well as 16 B pesos (USD804 MM) to build its Olmeca refinery expected to come online by the end of this year.
Reuters reported late last week that the Olmeca refinery, a top priority for Lopez Obrador, is running some USD5 B over budget. Pemex's revenue surged 59.6% in the first three months of 2022, boosted by a jump in sales and a recovery in oil prices. Crude oil prices jumped more than 36% from around USD56 per barrel to nearly USD89 per barrel during the first quarter, pushed up in large part by Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The Mexican peso gained 3.13% against the dollar during the January-March period. Crude oil and condensate production totaled 1.755 MMbpd, up 2.3% from last year's first quarter, according to the company's filing with the Mexican stock exchange, powered by 355,000 bpd in output from new priority fields.
Separate figures posted on its website show that Pemex has also significantly revised upward its previously reported fourth-quarter losses to around 194 B pesos from the 124 B pesos that it posted in February, a difference of more than USD3 B in additional red ink.
In April, Mexico's finance minister reiterated that the government was ready to make Pemex debt repayments whenever necessary, as higher oil prices have greatly improved cash flow.
As MRC informed previously, Mexico will reduce refining output at state oil company Pemex while it modernizes its oil refineries, according to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's statement earlier this month.
We remind that n late January, 2022, Pemex signed a long-term crude supply contract with Royal Dutch Shell Plc as part of its acquisition of the Deer Park refinery in Texas. Pemex and Shell in May, 2021, announced the transaction, which is worth almost USD600 MM and will make the Mexican firm the sole owner of the refinery near Houston. The facility has capacity to process 340,000 bpd. Shell will supply about 200,000 bpd of foreign and US crude to the plant for at least 15 years.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
mrchub.com