In oil boom, Mexico’s Pemex struggles

Pemex, Mexico’s state oil monopoly, is one of the world’s largest oil companies, pumping more than any company outside the Middle East. Prices are climbing and production is at a record.

So why is the company starved for cash? Its proven reserves are dwindling, and last year fell 7.7 percent. Its main oil field, Cantarell, is about to reach its peak production and will begin to decline next year. Without big investment and new oil discoveries soon, Pemex’s total production, now hovering above 3.3 million barrels a day, could begin to decline by the end of the decade, analysts say.

International Herald Tribune