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Mexico to cut at least 330,000 bpd of crude exports in May, sources state

Mexico's state energy business, Pemex, is planning to cut a minimum of 330,000 barrels per day (bpd) of unrefined exports in May, leaving clients in the United States, Europe and Asia with a third less supply, two sources said.

The plan follows the withdrawal of 436,000 bpd of Maya, Isthmus and Olmeca crudes this month, ordered by Pemex to its trading arm PMI Comercio Internacional due to the fact that it requires to supply more to its domestic refineries as it targets energy self-sufficiency.

Pemex has no option aside from using monthly cuts to exports after its crude production in February was up to the most affordable level in 45 years and the nation's refineries, including a new center in the port of Dos Bocas, began taking in more crude oil.

Dos Bocas alone is anticipated to need approximately some 179,000 bpd of crude this year, according to main figures.

Neither Pemex nor its trading arm instantly reacted to a. ask for comment.

Over the weekend, a lethal fire at a crucial overseas platform. in the Gulf of Mexico also meant Pemex needed to halt production at. several wells, one of the sources stated. It is unclear the number of. barrels would be cut as an outcome.

Pemex exported 1.03 million bpd of crude in 2015, and. 945,000 bpd in January-February.

Mexico's energy ministry anticipates domestic processing to. increase to an average of 1.04 million bpd this year from. 713,300 bpd in 2023, leaving less barrels available for exports. in the rest of the year.

May cuts are anticipated to be in between 10 million and 14. million barrels (in total), another source said.

Despite the fact that the cuts are considerable and expected to be. applied on a month-to-month basis from April onward, Pemex's trading. arm has actually not declared force majeure over supply contracts, the. sources, who are traders, said.

The majority of the contracts include provisions to assign monthly. volumes of particular crudes depending upon accessibility, the. sources added. The volumes are agreed mid-month.

Pemex and the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez. Obrador said earlier this year that the Dos Bocas refinery, in. Mexico's Tabasco state, would start producing gas and. diesel in the very first quarter.

While the refinery has begun processing crude in recent. months, it has yet to contribute to the domestic market with. completed motor fuels.

Apart from the increased local demand, decreasing reserves -. especially at old Gulf of Mexico fields - is another difficulty,. a different source, at the energy ministry, stated.

There have actually been discrepancies in Mexico's information on. reserves, the source said, including that these presently. overestimate both the quantity of crude oil Pemex can technically. recover at an expense that is financially practical, and the quality. of the crude oil itself.

The prognosis for the future is not motivating, the. source stated. The (production) decline is inescapable.

(source: Reuters)