Pemex, Mexico’s heavily indebted state oil company, posted a loss of 45.99 billion pesos (US $2.6 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, the firm’s worst start to any year since 2020.
The loss, reported by Pemex to the Mexican Stock Exchange last week, is 6.2% higher than the 43.3-billion-peso loss recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
Pemex debt hits lowest level in over a decade at $84.5 billion
Reuters reported that Pemex “failed to profit from a global oil price surge triggered by international conflict,” namely the war in the Middle East.
Mexican newspaper El Financiero reported that Pemex’s first quarter loss was the result of lower sales, higher depreciation of fixed assets, lower “other” income, higher costs related to derivative financial instruments and a foreign exchange loss.
The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness, a Mexico City-based think tank, highlighted that Pemex recorded its largest first-quarter loss despite receiving a 58.3-billion-peso cash injection from the federal government in the period. The federal government has also reduced Pemex’s tax burden.
Pemex’s Q1 performance in detail
- Pemex’s sales decreased 7.6% annually to 365.72 billion pesos in the first quarter of 2026. That result came from a 25.3% decline in export sales and a 4.2% increase in national sales.
- In the first quarter, Pemex exported an average of 405,000 barrels of crude per day, an annual decline of 38.8%. A 5.2% increase in the price of the Mexican mix of crude (mezcla mexicana) that Mexico exports could not offset the near 40% decline in barrels shipped abroad. Mexico has been keeping more crude at home as it seeks to reach self sufficiency for fuel.
- Pemex sold an average of 1.31 million barrels of crude and fuel per day in Mexico in the first quarter, an annual increase of 6.4%.
- Pemex’s sale costs declined 3.3% annually to 277 billion pesos in the the first quarter.
- Pemex’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were 117.8 billion pesos in the first quarter.
- Pemex pumped an average of 1.652 million barrels of liquid hydrocarbons per day in the first quarter, an annual increase of 2.3%. The state oil company said the increase was driven by “the performance of strategic fields” such as Maloob, Ixachi, Zaap, Ayatsil and Quesqui.
- Pemex produced an average of 3.925 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in Q1, an annual increase of 423 million cubic feet per day. Pemex said that the increase was due to a greater contribution from onshore projects and non-associated gas.
- Pemex processed an average of 1.14 million barrels of crude per day at its seven refineries in Mexico in the first quarter, an annual increase of 22.2%. Including refining at Pemex’s Deer Park facility in Texas, an average of 1.36 million barrels of crude were processed per day in Q1. Pemex has struggled to reach the government’s 1.8 million barrel target, and crude production has declined significantly over the past 15 years, falling almost 50% in the period. Reuters reported that “new contracts with private producers that were meant to lift output have advanced slowly and largely failed to draw big players.”
- Pemex’s debt as of March 31, 2026, was just over US $79 billion. The state oil company said that was the lowest level of debt since 2014. The figure represents a reduction of 7.3% compared to the end of 2025.
- Pemex owed 375.12 billion pesos to suppliers at the end of Q1, a 14.1% reduction compared to the end of 2025.
With reports from El Financiero, El Economista and Reuters
