Mexico Unveils 10-Year Plan to Reform, Revive PEMEX

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration has unveiled a 10-year strategic plan aimed at reshaping PEMEX into a financially viable, operationally efficient, and environmentally responsible state energy company. The 2025–2035 roadmap, presented on Aug. 5 by top cabinet officials and PEMEX leadership, aims to mark a pivotal shift in the company’s direction, with reforms targeting debt reduction, production stabilization, and the relaunch of petrochemical and gas operations under a new vision of energy sovereignty.

The plan comes after months of coordinated work between the presidency, the finance and energy ministries, and PEMEX. President Sheinbaum emphasized that this new vision stems from detailed reviews of the company’s finances and operations, spanning exploration, production, refining, petrochemicals, and new business lines. “We are all very satisfied,” Sheinbaum said. “We have built a forward-looking vision for PEMEX, with a detailed review of the company’s figures from 2025 to 2035.”

The plan’s financial backbone rests on a three-pronged capital and financing strategy crafted by the Ministry of Finance, which will play a key role in supporting PEMEX through 2026. Minister of Finance Edgar Amador underscored the structural debt problems inherited from previous administrations. PEMEX’s debt soared from US$43.3 billion in 2008 to US$105.8 billion in 2018, he said, a 130% increase during what he called the “neoliberal period.” As of 2Q25, PEMEX’s financial debt stands at around US$98.8 billion, with an additional supplier debt of around US$22.9 billion. 

The strategy seeks to reverse this rising debt. By the end of 2025, the administration expects a 16% reduction in PEMEX’s total debt from 2018 levels. By 2030, it aims to cut debt by 26% compared to 2019 levels of US$105.2 billion, through operations focused on lowering commercial and financial obligations.

A central pillar of the plan is a tax reform. PEMEX will benefit from a lighter fiscal load through a recalibrated "Oil Welfare Tax," which reduces its historically high tax burden of 65% in 2019 to the current 30%, while incentivizing productive investment. “We want to provide the correct incentives for PEMEX to undertake a long-term, efficient investment strategy,” said Amador.

In addition, the government executed a favorable international bond issuance last week, described by Amador as a “precapitalized note structure” that attracted twice the expected investor demand. The funds raised will help refinance costly short-term debt and improve PEMEX’s maturity profile. The successful issuance was accompanied by a rare upgrade in PEMEX’s credit rating by Fitch Ratings, moving from “B+” to “BB,” the company’s first upward rating revision in over a decade.

Minister of Energy Luz Elena González framed the plan as a reflection of Sheinbaum’s broader commitment to strengthening state enterprises in service of national development. “This plan ensures that every decision is backed by integrated planning, viable from a technical, economic and financial perspective,” she said.

According to González, PEMEX will continue receiving financial support from the Finance Ministry in 2025 and 2026. But from 2027 onward, the company is expected to finance its operations from its own revenue, under a more sustainable fiscal regime.

On the operational side, PEMEX CEO Víctor Rodríguez laid out ambitious goals to restore the company’s core activities while expanding into new areas. The company aims to stabilize crude oil production at 1.8MMb/d, with most of it directed to domestic refining to support fuel self-sufficiency. Only small surpluses will be exported.

Rodríguez confirmed plans to develop two major deepwater fields in the Gulf of Mexico, Zama and Trion, as well as reactivate mature fields that still account for over 90% of Mexico’s current oil production. PEMEX will also expand exploration into both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

A key component of the strategy is boosting natural gas output, reducing reliance on imports and supporting the electricity sector. “Reducing our dependency on imported natural gas is a fundamental pillar of this plan,” said Rodríguez. Gas production will be ramped up across the company’s existing asset base, particularly in southern and northern regions, aiming to increase production from 3.5Bcf/d to over 5Bcf/d, which is still below the 2009 peak of around 6.5Bcf/d. 

The refining segment will also undergo a transformation. PEMEX will increase output of high-value fuels, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, while gradually eliminating the production of fuel oil. The company is targeting an 80% yield of refined products with higher market value.

The petrochemical industry, which according to Rodríguez is long neglected, is slated for a comeback. PEMEX will overhaul facilities such as Cosoleacaque, Cangrejera, and Morelos to boost production of ammonia, urea, and other key chemicals. “We are rebuilding what was left adrift since the 1980s,” Rodríguez said, adding that the company plans to evolve traditional refineries into petrochemical hubs.

Infrastructure investments will include the construction of three new gas pipelines to better connect producing regions with demand centers, including the underdeveloped Coatzacoalcos II corridor. PEMEX will also complete a crucial interconnection between the offshore marine pipeline and the Mayakan system that supplies the Yucatán Peninsula. Additionally, four cogeneration plants will be built to produce electricity and thermal energy simultaneously with high efficiency, located in Tula, Salina Cruz, Cangrejera and the Nuevo PEMEX gas complex.

Rodríguez said the strategy aims to ensure PEMEX’s viability under the principles of sovereignty, security, sustainability and energy justice. “The approach is simple: increase revenue, reduce costs, and improve our financial position,” he said.

To help alleviate the financial burden and improve the NOC’s financial position, Jorge Mendoza Sánchez, Director, National Bank of Public Works and Development (BANOBRAS), announced that the institution will create a MX$250 billion investment fund for the state-owned oil company. The fund is designed to support PEMEX’s capital projects without increasing the company’s debt burden. At least half of the fund is expected to be financed by Mexico’s development banking system, with the remaining resources coming from commercial banks and, in the future, investors through structured finance mechanisms.

Ultimately, the Sheinbaum administration’s plan for PEMEX signals its continued political and economic commitment to the state oil company. Officials describe it as a turning point that not only resolves PEMEX’s structural challenges, but also anchors the country’s long-term energy security.

“Eighty-seven years after its founding,” said González, “PEMEX once again assumes its historic responsibility. Energy sovereignty is at the heart of the second stage of the Fourth Transformation.”