Mexico’s Pemex Downgraded Again as AMLO Govt Fails to Impress

摘要

Having already downgraded the debt of Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to junk status in 2019, Fitch Ratings on Friday lowered the frm’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings (IDR) another notch to ‘BB’ from ‘BBB+’ with a negative outlook. The downgrades, which apply to about $80 billion of notes outstanding, refect “the downturn in the global oil and gas industry, Fitch’s lower oil price assumptions and the weakening credit linkage between Mexico and Pemex,” said Fitch analysts, who also cited the company’s “limited fexibility to navigate the downturn in the oil and gas industry given its elevated tax burden, high leverage, rising per barrel lifting costs and high investment needs to maintain produc- tion and replenish reserves.”