Petróleos Mexicanos SA, Mexico´s state-owned oil monopoly, plans to boost investment by 21 percent in 2006 to US$13.1 billion to increase oil production and refining. Of the increase, 79 percent will go to exploration and production and 14 percent to refining, the company´s chief executive officer Juan José Suárez said in a conference call.
Last year, Pemex as the Mexico City-based company is known, invested US$10.8 billion, with 89 percent spent on exploration and production and 7 percent on refining.
"The Finance Secretariat will have to authorize the spending plan because it´s higher than the US$9 billion Pemex budget approved by Congress," Suárez said on Wednesday.
The plan to more than double spending on refineries this year to US$1.83 billion from US$756 million last year is designed to help Mexico reduce its need to import gasoline. In 2005, Mexico imported US$7.8 billion of gasoline, diesel, propane and other refined fuels.
Pemex, the world´s sixth-largest oil company, has US$3.5 billion of debt maturing this year and plans to raise between US$1 billion and US$2 billion of debt, the report said. Last year, the company raised US$10.1 billion of debt.
The company plans to fund "the majority" of its investments and debt maturities with the cash it generates, Suárez said.
At the end of December, Pemex´s debt rose to US$49.9 billion from US$47.1 billion a year ago. Pemex had US$10.6 billion of cash on hand.
The company reported a loss for 2005 of 40.5 billion pesos (US$3.75 billion), exceeding its 2004 loss of 26.3 billion pesos. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of US$57.4 billion, a 20 percent increase from 2004, Pemex said in a report on Wednesday.
