$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')EXICO CITY (MNI) -
Mexico's state oil company Pemex will begin importing crude oil for the first time in decades after watching the markets for the best moment to buy, Pemex Director General Juan Jose Suarez said Tuesday.
Suarez told local radio that Pemex is concluding the analysis of how different mixtures on the market react in the country's refineries, and will wait for an opportunity to buy, making the plan seem much more definite than it did only a day earlier.
"We will be watching for opportunities, and when they come, we will carry out" the import, Suarez said in an interview with Radio Formula.
Suarez told reporters at an energy event Monday that Pemex was considering importing crude to increase the profitability of Mexico's refineries.
Imports would only represent 3% of the total crude produced by Mexico, Suarez added.
He said it is not a question of having enough domestic crude, since output has remained steady at 2.59 million bpd this year from 2.6 million bpd last year, but mixing the lighter imported crude rich in gasoline together with Mexico's heavier grade crude, the refinery process will be more profitable, Suarez said.
"
Our type of crude has changed for some time because we stopped producing what we used to produce in Cantarell," Suarez said, refering to the nation's huge aging oil field. "Our refining system produces less gasoline with our crude."
http://imarketnews.com/node/18254So has the quality of crude coming out of Cantarell changed, and that's why they need to import lighter crude to mix with it?