President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week the company will have "complete support" from the government, and that it had a plan to ensure pending bond payments are met. The left-leaning Lopez Obrador has made turning around Pemex's fortunes a priority of his administration. He has pumped in billions of dollars to support the company and to boost domestic production of motor fuels by refining more of Pemex's crude oil production at home. Crude output has fallen by around half since peaking in 2004 at 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd). Crude production has risen for the last three years, but is still below the 2018 average. (Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Ed Osmond, Jonathan Oatis and Jamie Freed)
Messaging: dave.graham.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) (Recasts with confirmation of bond placement)
By Ana Isabel Martinez
MEXICO CITY, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Mexican
state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex)
said on Tuesday it had completed a $2 billion bond raising to be
used largely to refinance some of its debt.
Pemex did not give details on the bond's tenor or coupon
rate, but it said the deal had been five times oversubscribed.
Two company sources told Reuters the bond has a 10-year
maturity, and was part of a move by the heavily indebted firm to
secure financing during the first quarter.
"The funds obtained will be to pay bonds maturing this
year," one of the sources told Reuters on condition of
anonymity, noting that Pemex had planned the raising to relieve
financial pressure during the first quarter.
Pemex had financial debts of some $105 billion at the end of
the third quarter, when it posted losses of nearly $2.6 billion.
The company's debt payments due for the first quarter of
2023 stand between $5.5 billion and $6 billion, the firm's Chief
Executive Octavio Romero said this month.
The debt payments the company was due to make in January
were being met with its own funds, the source said.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.