State-owned energy company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) returned into the red in the third quarter of 2021, mostly due to higher tax payments and foreign exchange losses. Pemex posted a loss of MXN62.8 billion ($3.08 billion) in the July-September quarter, swinging from a profit of MXN1.4 billion in the same quarter in 2020. It also marks a setback from the second quarter’s profit of MXN14.4 billion. Quarterly revenues stood at MXN732.1 billion ($35.99 billion).
The loss is mostly attributed to Pemex’s large tax obligations to the Mexican government. At the same time, the company posted foreign exchange losses of MXN47 billion ($2.31 billion). Pemex’s financial debt, mostly dollar-denominated, stood at $113 billion. The company is due to repay $1.557 billion of it between October and December.
Pemex’s loss also came despite the company’s higher crude oil production in the third quarter. The company’s new fields operating from 2019 pumped 280,000 bpd of oil, helping to boost average production to 1.74 million bpd in the quarter. Crude processing rose 15% year-on-year to 695,000 bpd in the third quarter.
