Mexico's Pemex Produces Record 3.42 Million B/D Crude Mar 9

sg.biz.yahoo.com Tuesday March 11, 6:01 AM (MORE) Dow Jones Newswires 03-10-03 1634ET

MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (E.PEM), or Pemex, said it produced a record 3.42 million barrels of crude oil Sunday.

In a press release Monday, Pemex said new production wells at its heavy crude offshore Cantarell oil field contributed to the new production level.

The Northeast Marine Region, which includes Cantarell, produced 2.45 million barrels of crude Sunday, almost all heavy crude. Cantarell contributed 2.12 million barrels.

Pemex is aiming to produce an average of 3.4 million b/d of crude oil this year, up from 3.2 million b/d in 2002. By 2006, Pemex expects to be producing 4 million b/d of crude.

The new record output comes as Mexico ramps up its crude exports in response to rising prices and supply concerns generated by the threat of war in Iraq and Venezuela's general strike in December and January.

Pemex exported 1.79 million b/d of crude oil in January - out of total production of 3.3 million b/d - and planned to increase exports to 1.88 million b/d in February.

Energy officials have said Mexico could add an additional 100,000 b/d to the market if needed, although Deputy Energy Minister Juan Antonio Barges said last week that he considered the market to be saturated at present.

-By Anthony Harrup, Dow Jones Newswires; (5255) 5080-3450, anthony.harrup@dowjones.com