Mexico's May crude exports up 12%, road fuels demand stable

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Mexico's crude oil exports gained 11.7% on the month to 1.031 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, driven largely by a rise in exports to Asia, while flows to Europe dipped slightly, according to data released at the weekend.

A total of 0.317 million bpd was sent to Asia, up 40% from April, while 0.585 million bpd went to the Americas, up 4.3%, and 0.129 million bpd was sent to Europe, down 4.4%, said data from Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex.

Crude oil exports were still 14.4% below the May 2019 pre-pandemic level.

However, refinery output was up both on the month and compared to the pre-pandemic level at 0.79 million bpd in May.

This was still the second-lowest output figure so far this year and net imports of gasoline have risen sharply in the last two months, from an average of 0.28 million bpd in the first quarter to 0.355 million bpd in April and May.

Domestic road fuels demand was stable for gasoline and down for diesel.

Toll road data has indicated driving activity at above 2019 levels in recent months, though this was not borne out in the Pemex data for May which showed both gasoline and diesel deliveries remained significantly below pre-pandemic figures.