MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pemex, leading oil company in the Americas

Mexico government owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is the world's third-largest oil company in terms of production, and Mexico ranks sixth among oil producing countries, according to the company's 2005 statistical report.

Pemex trails only Saudi Arabia's Aramco and Iran's NIOC, which hold the number one and two positions among the list of largest oil companies.

During the first seven months of 2005, Pemex produced an average of 3.32 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, edging out U.S.-based Exxon-Mobil, which slipped into fourth place, Venezuela's PDVSA and Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell.

Pemex, Saudi Aramco, NIOC and PDVSA are all government owned companies, while Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch/Shell are publicly traded companies.

Saudi Arabia with a daily production of over 9 million barrels of crude is the world's leading producer followed by Russia, United States, Iran, China and Mexico.

As far as natural-gas production, Russia's Gazprom is the leading company and Pemex ranks in ninth place.

Pemex, which posted revenues of 70 billion US dollars in 2004, also generates almost one third of the Mexican government's treasury revenues.