Mexican state oil firm Pemex recorded a 30% monthly jump in crude exports in September from the prior month, boosted by soaring demand from Europe and Asia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Pemex said in a weekend report it had exported 1.21 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil compared with 914,665 bpd in August. Exports were up 23% year-on-year, from the 983,000 bpd recorded last September.

The Mexican government, which had said that this year it would move toward refining more oil at home, took advantage of the higher prices that followed Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Pemex said shipments of crude destined for Europe – which is looking to wean itself off Russian oil – surged 85% in September from August to reach 149,734 bpd, while shipments to Asia were up 80% at 292,008 bpd.

While the company continued to ship largely to the Americas, sales to the region fell 14% to 579,840 bpd compared to August.

The average price of the Mexican export mix in September fell slightly from previous months to $82.36 per barrel, Pemex said.

Crude production remained stable at 1.77 million bpd. While fuel oil production in September reached its highest level this year at 278,888 bpd, gasoline output dropped slightly to 242,000 bpd.

Pemex said last week that crude processing in its six local refineries had grown to an average of about 800,000 bpd. The figure for September stood at 779,664 bpd and 820,000 the previous month.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Leslie Adler)