Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 40 2021

LatAmOil MEXICO LatAmOil

AMLO blasts financial markets’

response to Pemex debt plan

MEXICAN President Andres Manuel Lopez administration had not commented further on
Obrador has complained about financial mar- the matter.
kets’ response to his plans for paying off debts Last month, two sources familiar with the
owed by the national oil company (NOC) issue told Bloomberg that Lopez Obrador was
Pemex. not 100% committed to the idea of using IMF
Lopez Obrador had said at his daily press funds to settle Pemex’s obligations. Mexico City
conference on September 6 that his administra- may use part of the loan tranche to pay off its
tion intended to use part of a $12bn loan tranche own sovereign debts instead, they suggested.
received from the International Monetary Fund Meanwhile, a third source informed the
(IMF) to help Pemex lighten its debt portfolio, news agency that the government was looking
which now amounts to about $115bn. The gov- into more than one option for utilising the IMF
ernment then followed up by purchasing $7bn funds. Some of the money may eventually go
worth of foreign exchange reserves from the toward Pemex’s debt portfolio, but the presiden-
Bank of Mexico (BoM) the following week. In tial administration is considering a number of
turn, this move led Pemex’s bond prices to rise alternatives, he said. ™
significantly on traders’ expectation of higher
pay-offs.
The price increase has drawn Lopez Obra-
dor’s ire. At his daily press briefing on October
6, the president criticised the market’s response
to Mexico City’s effort to lighten the NOC’s load.
“We spoke here about using resources that
were being given to Mexico, that we were think-
ing about the possibility of buying bonds to pay
debt, especially Pemex debt,” he commented.
“Do you know what happened? The interest
on Pemex bonds increased because of what are
called vulture funds, which are speculative.”
Bloomberg said Lopez Obrador’s frustra-
tion might be a signal that Mexico’s govern-
ment was considering abandoning the plan to
settle Pemex’s debts in this fashion. As of press
time, the news agency said, the presidential Mexico’s president, shown at October 6 press briefing (Photo: LopezObrador.org.mx)

CUBA
Melbana reports additional

oil shows in Alameda-1 well

AUSTRALIA’S Melbana Energy said earlier had encountered multiple oil shows, including
this week that it had continued to encounter flows of crude into the wellbore. These shows
crude oil shows in Alameda-1, the exploration “occurred continuously to a depth of 1,130
well that it is drilling at the Block 9 licence area metres, for a total gross thickness of 670 metres,”
onshore Cuba. it added.
In a statement, Melbana said it had drilled Site personnel noted that the well first
the well to a depth of 1,820 metres in limestone encountered hydrocarbon shows at a depth of
and clastic sediments in the Upper Thrust Sheet 454 metres, slightly below the first casing point,
as of October 5. The company reported that it the company said.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 08•October•2021