PEMEX Union Veteran Wins Leader Elections

Ricardo Aldana achieved a landslide victory to win PEMEX’s union leader elections. In Other news, the NOC is still heavily indebted but managed to increase oil output in 2021. International oil prices dropped somewhat despite a production increase from OPEC+.

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MEXICO

PEMEX Union Veteran Wins Leader Elections

Ricardo Aldana, Treasurer of the union, won the elections by a landslide with 44,983 votes out of 63,700 cast.  This despite concerns about Aldana’s relationship with Carlos Romero Deschamps, PEMEX’s former union boss, who resigned in 2019 after corruption allegations. Nevertheless, none of Aldana’s contenders came close, with the second-ranked candidate receiving merely 4,505 votes.

CNH Affirms Total’s Abandoning of Deepwater Oil Block

Total abandoned the deepwater block in the Gulf of Mexico that it won together with ExxonMobil in Round 4 in 2020 after it deemed the project to be commercially unviable. Now, the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) issued out the resolution of Total’s renunciation of the contractual area, delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PEMEX Increases Production by 2.9 Percent in 2021, Falls Short of Goals

PEMEX managed to increase its oil production last year, nevertheless, it did not reach its desired level. Government data shows the NOC produced an average of 1.757MMbpd, an increase of 2.9 percent compared to 2020 and the highest figure since 2018. Nevertheless, production fell short of Oct. 2021’s reduced expectations of 1.765MMbpd.

PEMEX and BHP Have Meeting on Trion

PEMEX Director General, Octavio Romero, met with Geraldine Slattery, President Petroleum of BHP, in order to discuss progress and next steps to be taken in the landmark deepwater Trion project.

PEMEX Begins Year with US$2.67 Billion Debt to Providers and Contractors

The NOC saw its debt to suppliers grow in early 2022 and late 2021.

PEMEX and CFE Need Yearly US$1.3 Billion to Meet Hydrogen Demand

These state productive companies require US$1.3 billion of investment a year up to 2050 to meet demand for the promising green hydrogen fuel, said the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

INTERNATIONAL

Oil Prices Slip Despite OPEX+’s Output Increase

Oil prices dropped somewhat from highs not seen since 2014 last week, even though OPEC+ made good on its promise to pump more oil, on the back of pressure coming from top consumers. Brent crude dropped 0.5 percent and US West Texas Intermediate Crude fell 0.8 percent.

Total Greenlights US$10 Billion Uganda Megaproject

TotalEnergies approved the development for an Ugandan oil project, including the construction of the longest heated pipeline in the world. The project would turn Uganda into an oil producing country for the first time. The French company will partner with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and the Uganda National Oil Company.