Mexico's Pemex 3Q Loss Widens on Lower Crude Output

Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex reported a sharply deeper third quarter loss on falling crude output and prices, the company said on Friday in a filing with the Mexican stock exchange.

Pemex said its quarterly loss totaled 59.65 billion pesos ($4.44 billion) during the July to September period, compared with a year earlier loss of 39.14 billion pesos ($2.98 billion).

The company reported third-quarter revenues of 406.5 billion pesos for the quarter, down 0.7 percent compared with same period last year.

Higher interest payments and foreign exchange losses also weighed.

Pemex's crude oil production was down 4.3 percent during the quarter to 2.398 million barrels per day (bpd), compared with 2.506 million bpd during the third quarter of 2013.

Meanwhile, the average price of Pemex's crude exports fell 8.4 percent to $92.08 per barrel, compared with $100.53 per barrel during the same period last year.

Mexico's government has long relied on oil revenues to fund about a third of the federal budget.

The Mexican oil giant also saw financing costs for the quarter rise to 32.8 billion pesos for the quarter, compared with 5.3 billion pesos during the same period last year.

Crude oil production has fallen from a 3.4 million bpd peak in 2004.

A sweeping energy overhaul that was approved by Mexico's Congress in August ended Pemex's decades-old monopoly. The reform promises to reverse declining production by luring billions of dollars in new investment.

Beginning next year, Pemex is set to ink its first joint ventures with private and foreign oil companies for a mix of 10 onshore and offshore fields expected to generate total investment of $32.3 billion.

The company has said it expects 2014 crude oil production to average 2.35 million bpd.

($1 = 13.4235 Mexican pesos at end-Sept)

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Simon Gardner and W Simon)