Mexico’s Oil Giant Posts Record $32 Billion Loss, Cuts Crude Price Forecast To $25

For a long time, the impact of the collapsing Petrodollar was concentrated almost entirely on African and Mid-east oil exporting nations, of which none has been impacted more perhaps that ground zero itself, Saudi Arabia, which has seen a record surge in its budget deficit as a result of collapsing oil revenue – the result of its ongoing war with the U.S. oil and gas sector and low cost “marginal” producers around the globe. Then slowly, the commodity woes spread to supposedly unshakable, developet nations, such as Norway and Canada, both of which are currently troubled by the impact of plunging crude prices on state revenues and downstream budgets.

Today, another country exposed just how troubled its energy sector has become when Mexico’s largest, state-owned company, Petroleos Mexicanos also known as Pemex, announced not only its 13th consecutive quarterly loss amounting to $9.3 billion, 44% bigger than the previous year, as revenue tumbled by 28% to $15.8 billion, but also a gargantuan $32 billion annual loss and at the same time announced it would slash capex spending to preserve cash and optionality for a future which suddenly looks very bleak.

In a budget report issued today, Pemex also pledged to meet the government’s request that it trim its 2016 budget by 100 billion pesos ($5.5 billion). Pemex will cut as much as $3.6 billion in spending by delaying projects, including expensive offshore wells, Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya, the company’s CEO, said in a conference call with investors. Pemex will pursue partners for any future deepwater development, Gonzalez Anaya said.

The report follows an announcement by the state of Mexico to cut back on its lifeline to the troubled oil giant when on February 17 it said it plans to cut 100 billion pesos ($5.5 billion) from the oil giant’s budget in a move aimed at stemming the depreciation of the peso and limiting inflation in Latin America’s second-largest economy amid the slump in international crude prices.