Mexico oil output slide ending: minister

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A dramatic slide in Mexico’s oil production has come to an end and it can maintain output at 2.5 million barrels per day for the coming years, Energy Minister Georgina Kessel said on Tuesday.

Mexican crude output has plunged by nearly a quarter since peaking in 2004, straining public finances and spurring bond rating agencies to warn the country’s debt could be downgraded.

However the government now believes the rate of decline at the giant Cantarell field has slowed and become more predictable.

“I am convinced this is a reasonable baseline and that we can work with it for the coming years,” Kessel told Reuters in an interview, referring to the 2.5 million bpd level.

“I am confident that production at (Cantarell) has been stabilizing and this gives me confidence that we will not be seeing rates of decline that we experienced last year,” she said.

Reuters