Pemex crude exports fall 31.8% in September but revenue rises 2.4%

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) exported 389 thousand barrels per day of crude oil in September 2026, 31.8% less than in the same month of 2025, its third consecutive month with double-digit declines and a historic low for the series, according to its foreign trade figures released on November 2.

The lower volume did not translate into lower revenue. El Financiero reports that Pemex took in 1,062 million dollars from exports in September, 2.4% more than a year earlier, because the average price of the exported barrel reached 91 dollars, 50.2% above September 2025 and its highest level since July 2022. For the quarter, El Economista records foreign sales of 371,272 barrels per day between July and September, 33% less year on year, and revenue of 2,916 million dollars, 8.4% lower, with the Mexican blend at 85.3 dollars per barrel, 38% more. Shipments were split between the Far East (150 thousand barrels per day), the Americas (140,625) and Europe (98,422). For the Gulf basin, the decline in Mexican heavy crude reduces the volume available to refineries configured to process Maya.

The backdrop is production. Pemex reported 1,612 thousand barrels per day of liquid hydrocarbons including partners in September, 2.4% less year on year and the second-lowest level in its history, only above the 1,607 thousand of March 2025. That month it stopped breaking out crude and condensates in its Institutional Database. The seven refineries processed 998,100 barrels per day, 61.8% of liquid production and the lowest level since June, and El Economista records that refining absorbs 70% of liquids, versus 59% a year earlier and 35% in 2018. Octavio Barrera, Pemex's director of exploration and extraction, said in a conference with investors that the company is working on "focusing exploration with new discoveries, optimizing projects, attracting private investment, improving operational efficiency and optimizing costs."

The 2025-2035 Strategic Plan set the export threshold at 487,900 barrels per day, a figure that foreign sales from July to September already fell below, according to El Economista. The October operating report and the close of the fourth quarter will show whether the price effect sustains revenue with an ever-smaller exported volume.

This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.