AMLO sets Mexico production target

Mexico will produce 2.6 million bopd by the end of the incoming administration’s term in 2024, president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) told reporters on Saturday.

AMLO plans to raise domestic production from the current 1.8 million bopd and improve Mexico’s refinery utilisation rate, which now stands at around 40%, to reduce dependency on fuel imports.

The president-elect aims to boost production by allowing new farm-out and service contract tenders in NOC Pemex’s acreage, but has not explicitly said he would allow auctions to continue under the PSC and licence contract models established by the National Hydrocarbons Commission following the 2014 energy reform.

“The public investment will be dedicated to extracting petroleum in Pemex’s territory,” AMLO said, cited by Reuters. “Those platforms that are not being occupied will have work again.”

Last week, AMLO told reporters that auctions would continue within days of the new administration taking office on December 1.