Pemex swings to $6-B profit in first quarter, debt dips
(Reuters) - Pemex on Monday reported a $6.17 B first-quarter net profit, reversing a nearly $2 B loss in the year-ago period, driven by foreign exchange gains, growing output and higher crude prices.
Total financial debt at Pemex, one of the world's most indebted oil companies, edged down slightly to $108.1 B from $109 B at the end of 2021. Pemex attributed the improvement to strong Mexican government support and the company's own debt management operations.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pumped billions of dollars into Petroleos Mexicanos, as the company is formally known, in an effort to prioritize its health and achieve energy self-sufficiency during his term.
The Mexican oil giant said it had received 45.4 B pesos ($2.3 B) from the government to repay debt during the first three months of the year, as well as 16 B pesos ($804 MM) to build its Olmeca refinery expected to come online by the end of this year.
Reuters reported late last week that the Olmeca refinery, a top priority for Lopez Obrador, is running some $5 B over budget.
Pemex's revenue surged 59.6% in the first three months of 2022, boosted by a jump in sales and a recovery in oil prices.
Crude oil prices jumped more than 36% from around $56 per barrel to nearly $89 per barrel during the first quarter, pushed up in large part by Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The Mexican peso gained 3.13% against the dollar during the January-March period.
Crude oil and condensate production totaled 1.755 MMbpd, up 2.3% from last year's first quarter, according to the company's filing with the Mexican stock exchange, powered by 355,000 bpd in output from new priority fields.
Separate figures posted on its website show that Pemex has also significantly revised upward its previously reported fourth-quarter losses to around 194 B pesos from the 124 B pesos that it posted in February, a difference of more than $3 B in additional red ink.
In April, Mexico's finance minister reiterated that the government was ready to make Pemex debt repayments whenever necessary, as higher oil prices have greatly improved cash flow.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez and Adriana Barrera; Writing by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by David Alire Garcia, Richard Chang and Paul Simao)
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