Crude oil production at state oil monopoly Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, fell 6 percent to 2.98 million barrels a day in December from 3.16 million barrels daily in November, the company reported Monday.Pemex, one of the top foreign suppliers of crude to the U.S., said exports fell to 1.53 million barrels daily from 1.79 million barrels a day in November.
The company said it was forced to postpone some shipments until January because poor weather conditions forced the closure of oil loading ports.
Company officials have said they aim to produce an average of 3.2 million barrels a day in 2007.
Pemex said the average price of its crude oil edged up in December to US$49.86 a barrel from US$48.20 a barrel in November.
The average daily production in December was the lowest since November 2000, and well below the 3.39 million barrels a day produced in December 2005. It was also the first time in six years that average daily production has fallen below 3 million barrels daily.
After reaching a record 3.38 million barrels a day in 2004, Pemex crude production has been steadily slipping because of decline in heavy crude at its giant Cantarell oilfield.
The drop in December was entirely in heavy crude production, which fell to 1.94 million barrels daily from 2.12 million barrels a day in November. Light crude output was steady at 842,000 barrels a day, and extra light crude production edged up to 198,000 barrels daily from 197,000 barrels a day in November.
In December, Pemex exported 1.27 million barrels a day of heavy Maya crude at US$47.75 a barrel, 32,000 barrels daily of light Isthmus crude at US$56.91 a barrel, and 220,000 barrels a day of extra light Olmeca crude at US$61.47 a barrel.
For the full-year 2006, Pemex produced an average of 3.26 million barrels a day of crude oil, down from 3.33 million barrels daily in 2005. While the company´s crude production has dropped as a result of the decline at Cantarell, natural gas production has increased.
Pemex said it produced a record 5.4 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas in 2006, up 11 percent from 2005.
With output at Cantarell expected to fall by an average of 14 percent a year between now and 2015, Pemex is hoping to replace that production with oil from other projects.
