Nepedia
Back to Discover
Fluent Reader
💻

Pemex

technology Maturity 11-13 politics Next article →

This article covers sensitive topics: politics. Parents can manage visibility in Parental Controls.

Pemex is a very large company that belongs to the Mexican government.

Pemex gas station
Pemex gas station

Its full name is Petróleos Mexicanos, which means Mexican Petroleum in English. This company is a major part of Mexico's economy and its national identity. It is one of the biggest businesses in Latin America. In 2009, it was the second largest enterprise in that region. It was only surpassed by a Brazilian company called Petrobras.

Pemex gas station
Pemex gas station

The company handles many important tasks for the country.

Finding and using oil involves many different steps. First, the company must explore the earth to find oil and gas. Sometimes this happens in deep water in the ocean. Once oil is found, it must be extracted from the ground. After it is out of the ground, it goes to a refinery.

A refinery is a place that turns raw oil into useful things. For example, the Tula refinery helps process these materials. The company also works to distribute liquefied petroleum gas to people. This way, the energy from the oil reaches homes and cars.

History shows how Pemex became a symbol for Mexico. People in Mexico used asphalt and pitch long ago during the time of the Aztecs. In 1876, small amounts of oil were turned into kerosene near Tampico. Later, foreign companies from Britain and the United States began extracting more oil. In 1938, President Lázaro Cárdenas made a big change. He decided to nationalize the oil industry. This means the Mexican government took control of the oil resources.

Cantarell 2
Cantarell 2

This happened because the government wanted to respond to how foreign companies operated on Mexican soil.

There are many important facts about the size and scale of Pemex. In December 2019, the company had total assets worth $101.8 billion. However, the company also faces a very large debt. By September 2021, its debts were over $100 billion.

Cantarell 2
Cantarell 2

The company also pays a lot of money to the government. In fact, Pemex taxes provide about one third of all tax money collected in Mexico. Even with these debts, the company has made large discoveries. In 2019, it found a huge deposit in southeastern Mexico. This deposit could produce 500 million barrels of crude oil.

Understanding Pemex helps us see how a country manages its natural resources. The company works with other nations to learn new things. For example, it signed an agreement with a Russian company called Lukoil in 2014. They work together to learn about exploring new oil fields.

Pemex gas station
Pemex gas station

They also share knowledge about protecting the environment. This is important because the company has faced challenges with pollution. By working with others, Pemex tries to improve how it finds energy. This helps the country manage its oil and gas for the future.

452 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

🖼️ Images & Media (4)
File:Tula Refinery (5).jpg
Tula Refinery (5).jpg
File:Cantarell 2.jpg
Cantarell 2.jpg
File:Pemex gas station.jpg
Pemex gas station.jpg
File:Pemexgasstation.jpg
Pemexgasstation.jpg
More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.