The Lack of Coordination between Pemex and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Complicates Credit Transit with EXIM Bank

The lack of coordination between the commercial strategies of Pemex and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) of Alicia Bárcena complicated the transit of a credit that Pemex was seeking with the United States Exports and Imports Bank (EXIM).

In his appearance in San Lázaro, the director of Pemex denied that the company had been sanctioned or that any credit had been canceled. “It is not true, there is no fine in the slightest and there is no cancellation of any credit,” he responded to constant questions from legislators.

This, after it emerged in the media that the US bank had canceled in August a loan to Pemex of about 800 million dollars for exporting free oil to Cuba.

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However, Romero Oropeza added: “It was an agreement to no longer request that credit. There is no fine nor is there any cancellation by the EXIM bank in relation to Pemex,” he emphasized.

It happens that, as LPO learned, the oil company actually sought that credit, however, the request had to be withdrawn due to a proposal by the chancellor to monetize the barrels that are exported for free to the island, which would be problematic for the oil company because it would receive funds from a country on which harsh sanctions weigh.

It is worth specifying that, although Pemex produces the crude oil, it is through the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) that this export is made as humanitarian aid. However, the fiscal burdens in Mexico and a scenario of higher crude oil prices made Bárcena rethink the strategy.

“Why not? We have to see how it could be, what type of transaction,” Bárcena said in an interview last week within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, when asked if they could sell that raw. “We have a financial situation, of course. It’s not easy to donate,” she added.

And according to data from the Energy Institute of the University of Texas, during this year, Mexico has sent to Cuba about one million barrels of fuel produced in the country, which have an equivalent of 200 million dollars of oil. , in a scenario of higher prices that could be put under more upward pressure due to the geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East.

But as tempting as this measure may be, the truth is that it would not be an easy decision for Mexico to make due to the trade sanctions that the United States has on the island and which the López Obrador government has opposed.

“The problem is that Petróleos Mexicanos issues debt on US soil, therefore, it is subject to laws and regulations – trading with the island is prohibited. Also a significant percentage of its creditors are Americans,” says specialist Arturo Carranza, in dialogue with LPO.

Although Pemex does not directly export crude oil, it does produce it and therefore, the monetization of these barrels would not only have resulted in a sanction for the oil company but would also prevent it from issuing debt in that market.

According to Carranza, the idea of ​​charging Cuba for this fuel has not yet been withdrawn. For Pemex it would be a hard blow given the delicate situation of its finances, since the support from the Mexican government, which is around 145 billion pesos, is insufficient to provide relief to the oil company in the medium and long term.

López Obrador seeks to increase support for Pemex: he plans to further reduce his tax obligations

Yesterday, Tuesday, in his conference, López Obrador revealed his intention to further reduce the oil company’s fiscal obligations, that is, the payment of taxes to the Treasury for oil revenues, the DUC, which in 2024 will be reduced to 35% .

This debate also occurs at a time when the dialogue between the oil company and the agency is not as strong as when Marcelo Ebrard was there, with whom Romero Oropeza maintains a good relationship through Elvira Daniel.