Posted on 04/21/2008 2:40:41 PM PDT by BenLurkin
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's state-run oil company said Monday that oil production fell 7.8 percent to 2.91 million barrels a day in the first quarter as current reserves dwindle.
Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, has struggled with falling reserves, especially at its main Cantarell oil field, and lacks the money and expertise to launch new drilling projects. Pemex only has enough proven oil reserves to last nine years at current production rates.
President Felipe Calderon this month proposed an energy reform that would allow more private and foreign investment to jump-start new projects, but opponents argue the bill is a veiled attempt to privatize the industry, which they consider a symbol of national sovereignty.
Pemex also said Monday that oil exports had dropped 12.5 percent in the first quarter, mostly due to falling production and port closures caused by bad weather in February.
The company did boost natural gas production to a record 6.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day in the first quarter, up 13.2 percent over the same period last year.
Geeev all de wetbacks shovels and let them deeg for oil maing!
~ 3 million barrels/day, eh? Just about enough to compensate us for all the damned free medical care and welfare we’re giving their citizens. May as well invade while they still have oil.
NOW!
This story omits some important details. Yes, Pemex is a typically wasteful socialist project, which neglects to reinvest profits in order to get more profits down the line.
But the leftist opposition has threatened to start a revolution if the government brings in foreign oil companies, and it’s far from being an empty threat, unfortunately.
It’s typical Communist exploitation of popular resentments to keep the people in a state of useful poverty.
Most people think the oil business is a license to print money.
Centralized economies can’t even do that right, and they do have a license to print money, and they have the oil, too. And they still run it into the ground.
Most government oil companies get around that little fact of life by inviting foreign (which is to say, private) oil companies to invest. The ones who treat their foreign (private) investors with respect manage to grow their industry despite everything. The ones who won’t allow foreign investors, like Mexico, or the ones who rip-off their foreign investors, like Venezuela, or the ones foreign investors are afraid to go in to, like Iran, have a hard time growing their industries.
Ecuador fairly recently kicked Occidental out of the country. Oxy was their leading investor. There are others, but I would expect the remaining private oil companies to simply maintain their current operations, I wouldn’t expect to see them investing much new money having seen how easily they could lose it. Which means Ecuador’s production levels will probably not be increasing. Just another (smaller) example.
The Russians did much the same to Sakhalin Investors.
At first, I thought that was funny.
Oh no! If the price falls any further we could be flooded by poor immigrants fleeing Mexican poverty.
perhaps we can hire them to drill the abundant American sites since the American companies refuse.
PEMEX Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
PRI legislators have proposed to sell Pemex bonds to Mexican immigrant workers as a means of averting foreign investment and putting the remittances earned in the US to good use back home.
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