Elizabeth González Takes the Helm of Pemex Finance With $79 Billion in Debt

The Board of Directors of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) appointed Elizabeth González Garduño as Corporate Finance Director, effective June 25, 2026. She assumes the role with $79 billion in financial debt on the books as of Q1 2026, the highest figure among Latin America's state-owned oil companies.

González Garduño holds a Business Administration degree from UNAM and brings 20 years of public-sector experience. She was most recently serving as Pemex's Budget Deputy Director. She replaces Juan Carlos Carpio Fragoso, who was elevated to CEO in May 2026 following Víctor Rodríguez Padilla's departure to the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). According to the filing submitted to the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, her mandate is to ensure liquidity, control expenditure, and manage the company's resources with financial discipline.

The incoming CFO faces debt maturities of approximately $9.4 billion in 2026 and payables to contractors and suppliers of close to $20 billion, according to Bloomberg Línea. Crude output stands at around 1.65 million barrels per day, a decline of roughly 6 percent since the current administration took office, according to El Financiero/Bloomberg. The federal government has injected more than $40 billion into Pemex during President Claudia Sheinbaum's administration to cover debt payments, payroll, and refining losses.

For Mexico's power sector, Pemex's financial health is an operational variable. The company supplies part of the natural gas that fuels CFE's combined-cycle plants, which account for the bulk of generation in the National Electric System (SEN). Any deterioration in Pemex's capacity to invest in natural gas production adds upward pressure to the marginal cost of generation and deepens dependence on imports from the United States.

Among the new financial team's immediate priorities is advancing mixed-investment schemes in exploration and production. In that vein, Pemex signed a non-binding agreement in June with Brazil's Petrobras to explore blocks in the Gulf of Mexico. The official target is for the company to reach self-sufficiency by 2027.

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