Mexico’s President-elect Aims To Boost Oil Output

Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on July 27 his administration will look to boost the country’s crude oil production to 2.5 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d) from 1.9 MMbbl/d now.

Lopez Obrador, elected in a landslide July 1 victory and who will take office on Dec. 1, has said he is committed to expanding Mexico’s oil and gas output, which has declined steadily over the past 14 years due to a lack of investment and natural depletion of oil fields.

The leftist leader said he will look to revamp the nation’s six refineries so they are operating at full capacity within two years, and plans to build a new refinery in Dos Bocas in Mexico’s southern Tabasco state with an investment of 160 billion pesos (US$8.6 billion) over three years.