PEMEX Earmarks 56% of Budget for Offshore

Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos expects to invest $36 billion during the current six-year administration, up 76 percent from the prior term. The company said its 2001 investment program will total 59.4 billion pesos, about $6.1 billion at current exchange rates. Two-thirds of the sum, the largest investment amount in 19 years, will go toward the Cantarell, Burgos and Delta del Grijalva projects. Construction spending by the company this year is billed at 16.8 billion pesos, up 58 percent over 2000, Pemex said in a statement. Of the construction spending, 56 percent will go toward offshore platforms, 23 percent to pipelines and 19 percent to hydrocarbon separation plants and 2 percent to storage and other infrastructure projects. Pemex's refining arm will need to invest nearly $19 billion in the 2001-2010 period, the company said. President Vicente Fox, who took office in December, has vowed to streamline the state-run company, seen by many as Mexico's most bloated, inefficient bureaucracy. Last week, he named a Pemex board of directors that includes some of the nation's top businessmen. The board, which also includes Pemex workers' union representatives, has been charged with laying the groundwork for improved profitability and operations. - (Reuters)