Mexico's state oil company reported a drop in crude production of 9.2 % in 2008, compared with the previous year, due to a decline in production at its main oil field. Official estimates suggest that reserves at the Cantarell oil field in the Gulf of Mexico will last less than 10 years.
"Crude oil production was at 2.79 mm bpd," the company said in a statement which also blamed operating factors and the weather for the autumn. Although exports were also down, they brought in a record $ 43.3 bn, the statement said.

Pemex -- which contributes to around 40 % of Mexico's annual budget -- attributed the record takings to a promised sale price of $ 84.35 per barrel, 36.9 % higher than in 2007.
Mexico's state oil company in December sought bids for the drilling of 500 new wells in the giant Chicontepec oil field in southeast Mexico, which it is banking on to replacing dwindling output from other fields. A watered-down energy reform bill passed in October aims to boost production by opening the sector to more private and foreign investors.

Source: http://www.petroleumworld.com