Greenspan says oil output a threat to Mexico

Former Fed chief says lower production could spark a major fiscal crisis there, points out risks of increased immigration to United States.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Declining oil output in Mexico could spark a major fiscal crisis there, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday while also railing against U.S. immigration policy.

“There is no doubt that Mexican overall [oil] production is down and if it continues down, and prices don’t continue up to offset that, then there is a huge fiscal crisis pending,” the former U.S. central banker said via a video link to a business conference in Mexico City.


Mexico, the world’s No. 9 exporter of crude oil and a key supplier to the United States, has seen its oil output taper off from historic peaks in 2004 due to declining yields at its huge but aging Cantarell offshore field.

State oil monopoly Pemex, which provides more than a third of the country’s fiscal revenues, is now aiming to keep oil production at 3.1 million barrels per day for the next few years, down 8 percent from a 2004 peak of 3.38 million bpd.

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