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The story
Founded by Lázaro Cárdenas in 1938.1
Asphalt and pitch had been worked in Mexico since the time of the Aztecs. Small quantities of oil were first refined into kerosene around 1876 near Tampico. By the early 20th century, commercial quantities of oil were being extracted and refined by subsidiaries of the British Pearson and American Doheny companies and had attracted the attention of the Mexican government who then claimed all mineral rights for the state as part of its Constitution.
In 1938, President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40) sided with oil workers striking against foreign-owned oil companies for an increase in pay and social services. On March 18, 1938, citing Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917, President Cárdenas embarked on the state-expropriation of all resources and facilities, nationalizing the United States and Anglo–Dutch operating companies. He is famous in saying in his speech addressing the nation,
I ask the entire nation to furnish the necessary moral and material support to face the consequences of a decision which we, of our own free will, would neither have sought nor desired.
Pemex was established by Cárdenas's decree of June 7, 1938.
He framed expropriation as a necessary national response to the injustice of the operations of foreign companies operating on Mexican soil. Expropriation was not outright confiscation since the Mexican government promised to compensate companies. However, in retaliation, many foreign governments closed their markets to Mexican oil until the Allies demand for petroleum in World War II caused the boycott to be dropped. In spite of the early boycott, Pemex developed into one of the largest oil companies in the world.
In an interview on the oil news website in November 2005, a Pemex employee spoke anonymously of the company's inability to grow production, stating that the company and country is at Hubbert's Peak. The person interviewed believed export levels could not be recovered once peak had passed, as the size of current fields that have been discovered or are coming online represent a fraction of the size of the oilfields going into terminal decline. Annual production has dropped each year between 2004 and 2007. Furthermore, it has been reported the 2005–2006 daily oil production was down by approximately 500,000 barrels per day (79,000 m3/d) (a large proportion of the country's 4,500,000 barrels) on the previous year. Pemex averaged 3.71 MMBPD in 2006. Pemex has never produced 4 MMBPD or higher for a yearly average. Pemex was replaced as Latin America's largest company by Petrobras, according to a Latin Business Chronicle ranking of Latin America's Top 500 companies.
To help capitalize the company, former President Vicente Fox brought forward the possibility of making shares of Pemex available to Mexican citizens and pension funds, to complement a current project-specific investment setup known as "Proyectos de Inversión Diferida En El Registro del Gasto" (Deferred Investment Projects in the Expenditure Registry). The proposal, which intended to alleviate Pemex's tax burden and create a substantial budget increase, met opposition in Congress. President Felipe Calderón made clear at the beginning of his presidency that he would try his best to open up the sector to private investment. Pemex is Latin America's second-largest company measured by revenues, according to a ranking of the region's 500 largest companies by Latin Business Chronicle, behind Brazilian oil company Petrobras. In June 2009, Pemex has asked for an extra $1.5 billion state aid to finance oil fields investments, reported Bloomberg.
President Calderón called for a change in Mexico's oil industry after output at Pemex fell at the fastest rate since 1942. His comments came after Petrobras and London-based BP said they made a "giant" oil find of as much as 3 billion barrels (480×10^6 m3) in the Gulf of Mexico, southeast of Houston. According to Mexican Energy Minister Georgina Kessel, Mexico may seek to emulate Brazilian Oil rules that strengthened Petroleo Brasileiro SA as it considers regulation changes to revive the oil industry.
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In January 2014, Pemex signed a cooperation agreement with the Russian oil company Lukoil focusing on oil production and field exploration as well as exchange of knowledge in the aforementioned areas, including actions for ecological preservation and environmental protection. In February 2016, Emilio Lozoya Austin stepped down as CEO of Pemex and was replaced by José Antonio González Anaya. On November 27, 2017, José Antonio González Anaya was appointed to be the Secretary of Finance and Public Credit. Carlos Alberto Treviño Medina was appointed CEO, sequentially.
In July 2021, it was announced that PEMEX.UL for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution was to be created. Even though Pemex is highly indebted, it is still determined to assist the poor that are affected by the rising energy prices. In an unexpected turn of events, Pemex saw profits of $719 million in the second quarter of 2021. Also in July 2021, the SENER appointed Pemex as the operator for the Zama oil field which was originally discovered by Talos Energy in 2017. The two companies shall work together for the final development of Zama. In September that year, Talos disputed the governments decision, since Pemex doesn't have the required $2 billion for the oil fields development.
With debts still at over $100 billion by September 2021, Pemex and the finance ministry of Mexico's relationship was strengthened as the government decided to continue to support the company, but would not change the laws in order to directly reflect their debt. some speculation was made that the government may use International Monetary Fund (IMF) money to lighten Pemex's debt. Budget increases of 17% over 2021 amounts were proposed, with a 14% reduction of its profit-sharing duties, for 2022's exploration and production processes.
An agreement between Pemex and Braskem (BRKM5.SA) was reached in September 2021 for a new gas supply agreement and also to build a $400 million ethane terminal to be located in Laguna de Pajaritos, in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. In October 2021, Pemex was in debt with a recorded loss of $3.7 billion in profits for the third quarter compared to the previous year. In the last quarter of 2021, production was 4.5% higher than that of the last quarter of 2020. Due to tax payments and the currency being weak against the dollar, Pemex still reported a net loss of $6.05 billion. In order to reduce the debt Pemex is working on a plan to domestically refine its oil and reduce exports by 2023. In 2021, an investment of $21,000 million was made for the construction of an industrial plant at the Dos Bocas refinery. As part of the plan to sore up Pemex, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador purchased the Deer Park plant in the Huston Ship Channel for $600 million. The plant has the capacity to process 340,000 barrels per day.
On February 23, 2023, three major fires broke out at three different Mexico and U.S. operated Pemex facilities. In March 2023, Pemex and U.S. based, Talos Energy submitted to develop an offshore oil field. The two companies have been partnered since 2022. The platform that was submitted was for two offshore platforms and 46 wells with oil and gas from Zama would filter into the Pemex-run terminal at Dos Bocas. In June 2023, Pemex received bids for the renewal of the Dos Bocas wastewater treatment plant (PTE) which was originally built in 1970 and is no longer capable of treating the oily waters. Pemex's credit rating changed to from stable to negative in July 2023 due to the ongoing debt accumulation. The government assistance from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is said to likely continue until the end of his term in 2024. In September 2023, it was announced that Pemex would receive capital allocations from the federal government of Mexico to assist in paying off over $11 million in accumulated debt.
In 2024, the industrial plant at Dos Bocas opened and was operating at 60% capacity, transforming 340,000 barrels per day of crude oil into fuels. The Finance Ministry of Mexico provided a $12 billion debt offering to Pemex in July 2025 involving per-capitalised securities for upcoming 2025-2026 debt payments. In September 2025, it was announced that Mexico would include $14 billion in 2026 to pay Pemex debts. In 2026, Pemex announced that it would begin hydraulic fracturing of its own reserves for the extraction of natural gas. The company plans to spend 34% more than in 2025 in order to increase crude output to 1.8 million barrels per day and expand natural gas production to 4.5 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.
From Wikipedia’s article on Pemex, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4