Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex has launched a tender offer to prepay around $5 billion in bonds maturing between 2020 and 2023. The buyback will be financed through a capital injection announced by the Mexican government and the offer will expire next Wednesday.
With regard to the Pemex’s tender offer, Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio told the media that, “A transaction like this is only this time. We don’t plan to do it every year, nor are we planning capitalisations like this every year. This is the last piece of support that we are planning to give to Pemex from the point of view of the 2019 fiscal year.”
Currently, Pemex’s financial debts amount to around $104 billion which makes it the most heavily indebted oil company in the world. The heavy debt is a result of declining oil output, mismanagement, and corruption.
Due to its debt, Pemex was downgraded by credit rating agency Fitch earlier this year. Another credit rating agency Moody’s has also issued a warning to the oil company about a possible downgrade. To fend off a possible second credit downgrade, Pemex must increase production and lower costs.
According to Deputy Finance Minister Gabriel Yorio, the tender offer by Pemex will help the company make some improvements. He expects Pemex will meet a target of producing an average of 1.8 million barrels of oil per day in December, up from around 1.65 million it produces currently.
The Mexican government has supported Pemex with tax breaks and cash support. The government will continue to support Pemex with a $4.4 billion budget in 2020.