Mexico June oil output down 11.1 pct vs year ago

Mexican oil output fell below 2.6 million barrels per day for the first time since 1990 in June, hit by the relentless decline of the Cantarell field and maintenance, state oil monopoly Pemex said on Friday.

Oil production slid 11.1 percent compared to June 2008 to 2.519 million bpd. Exports of crude were down 12.7 percent at 1.236 million bpd over the same period, Pemex said.
The slide in production has prompted bond rating agencies to warn that the country’s debt rating could be cut due to the government’s heavy reliance on oil revenues.

Falling oil output has compounded the government’s fiscal problems as it wrestles with a severe economic downturn that could be Mexico’s worst recession since the Great Depression.

Output from Cantarell, once one of the world’s most prolific oil fields, was 658,700 bpd in June, down 37 percent from a year ago. In addition to the natural decline of the field, planned work on a production platform at Cantarell in June cut output by 5,800 bpd.

Reuters