Feb 5, 2014
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Mexico boosted gasoline and diesel production last year, while also easing its reliance on imported fuels, the country's national oil company, Pemex , said on Wednesday.
Pemex's six refineries produced an average of 437,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline and 313,000 bpd diesel in 2013, both up about 5 percent on the previous year.
As a result of the increased output, gasoline imports fell nearly 10 percent to 359,000 bpd, the company added, the lowest level of imports since 2009.
Mexico, the world's tenth-biggest crude producer, remains dependent on gasoline imports, nearly all from the United States, for about half of its domestic consumption.
U.S. gasoline exports to Mexico have nearly quadrupled since 2000 with Pemex unable to meet local demand.
Pemex's refining unit posted a $10.2 billion loss last year, the highest of any of the company's four divisions.
In December, a sweeping energy reform was signed into law that promises to boost oil and gas production by luring significant new streams of private investment into the long-shuttered sector.
While the reform also opens the refining sector and allows new entrants into retail gasoline sales for the first time in decades, major new investments in both markets are seen as unlikely in the near term.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/05/mexico-oil-idUSL2N0LA22J20140205?rpc=401
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