Weekly Report - 21 October 2010 (WR-10-42)

MEXICO | Pemex. The big issue for the economy is what will happen at the state oil monopoly Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). The company has recently stabilised its production of crude oil, but oil analysts doubt that this situation will endure. Pemex disagrees: its director general Juan José Suárez Coppel, recently argued that three new small discoveries, Ayatsil, Texel and Xux-Tsimin, will keep overall output stable as Cantarell's rate of decline increases. The government has yet to send legislation to congress to show the production-sharing terms Pemex can offer foreign firms for their expertise in developing the country's deepwater offshore fields. Pemex's parlous cash position means that it cannot afford to hire experts for cash.