Pemex Says May Oil Output Falls 6.6% From Year Ago

Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-owned oil monopoly, said crude production fell 6.6 percent in May from a year earlier and dropped to its lowest this year as the company struggles with declining output from its Cantarell field.

Daily output was 3.11 million barrels, down from 3.33 million in May 2006, the Mexico City-based company said today in a report on its Web site. January’s production of 3.14 million barrels was the previous low for the year.
Cantarell, the world’s third-largest oil field, produced 1.58 million barrels per day, a 15 percent decline from 1.86 million barrels daily in May last year. May’s daily production at the offshore field was lower than 1.59 million barrels in April.

Pemex has increased its spending plan this year for exploration and production to 137 billion pesos ($12.7 billion) to increase production from other offshore fields, such as Ku- Maloob-Zaap, to make up for Cantarell’s drop. Ghawar in Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil field, followed by Burgan in Kuwait.

Bloomberg