Pemex is the world’s most indebted oil company
Why is the Mexican government propping it up?
It is rare for the CEO of a company to admit to being anxious. But when, on October 9th, Octavio Romero, head of Pemex, Mexico’s national oil company, appeared before lawmakers, he came close to doing so. Mr Romero confirmed the substance of a letter leaked in September, in which Pemex informed Mexico’s treasury that it was unable to pay over $500m owed to three suppliers, one of which has started a dispute-resolution process. “We are busy, rather than worried,” Mr Romero claimed, not entirely convincingly.
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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Back to the future”
From the October 14th 2023 edition
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