{"id":2134,"date":"2026-07-10T01:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T01:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/?p=2134"},"modified":"2026-08-26T01:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:36:53","slug":"u-s-oil-extraction-in-the-gulf-surpasses-mexicos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/u-s-oil-extraction-in-the-gulf-surpasses-mexicos\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Oil Extraction in the Gulf Surpasses Mexico\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration<\/strong>, in the month of April U.S. oil production<\/strong> broke a record, reaching 13,934 thousand barrels per day (mbd)<\/strong>. After the conflict with Iran<\/strong>, the country not only positioned itself as the largest oil producer in the world<\/strong>, covering a large part of the production losses of Middle Eastern<\/strong> countries such as Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, Kuwait<\/strong>, the United Arab Emirates<\/strong>, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the producing areas that also broke a record is the offshore Gulf of Mexico<\/strong> in U.S. territory. For the first time, U.S. offshore production<\/strong> exceeded 2,100 mbd<\/strong>. Taking 2016 into account, production increased by more than 600 mbd<\/strong> in less than 10 years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This takes on particular relevance because during the same period, in Mexico<\/strong>, production has fallen significantly. In 2015, Mexico\u2019s offshore production<\/strong> was 1,768 mbd<\/strong>, according to the latest public record; by the beginning of 2026<\/strong> it was already around 1,100 mbd<\/strong>. This is precisely close to 600 mbd less<\/strong> in less than 10 years<\/strong> in the Gulf of Mexico<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production<\/strong> on both sides of the border has practically reversed, and at the core there is an institutional<\/strong> issue. In 2015, Mexico<\/strong> was launching the oil rounds<\/strong> as a result of the 2013 constitutional changes<\/strong>; in 2018 the last of them took place, even before the new administration of L\u00f3pez Obrador<\/strong> took office. The new policy promoted by the administration would be to bet on Pemex<\/strong>, and in recent years the bet has not produced the expected results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, in the United States<\/strong> more than 20 bidding rounds<\/strong> have been carried out in the Gulf of Mexico<\/strong> for oil concessions<\/strong>, in addition to one in March of this year, and the next one will take place next August; the plan continues periodically to tender 27 more between now and 2040<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference is not minor. While Mexico<\/strong> suspended the mechanism that allowed the incorporation of new operators, capital, and technology<\/strong>, the United States<\/strong> maintained a continuous schedule to develop its resources in the Gulf of Mexico<\/strong>. Not all bidding rounds become immediate production, nor are all projects successful, but they do generate a permanent portfolio of opportunities<\/strong>. In a long-term industry<\/strong>, that continuity matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico\u2019s<\/strong> problem is not only that it produces less oil<\/strong>. The problem is that it stopped building the conditions to produce more in the future. Pemex<\/strong> remains a central company for the country, but it faces financial, operational, and technological limitations<\/strong> that are not resolved through political discourse alone. Betting everything on a single company, in a high-risk industry<\/strong> with high investment requirements, reduced the room for maneuver precisely when the country needed to expand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comparison in the Gulf of Mexico<\/strong> clearly shows the result of two different decisions. The United States<\/strong> increased its offshore production<\/strong> by an amount similar to what Mexico<\/strong> lost, while on one side there was institutional continuity<\/strong>, bidding rounds<\/strong>, and new projects<\/strong>, and on the other a concentration of decisions that failed to stop the decline. The maritime border<\/strong> not only separates oil-producing territories, it also shows two different ways of converting resources into production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This article was originally published by La Prensa OEM<\/strong>.<\/strong>
Date:<\/strong> July 10, 2026
Link:<\/strong> https:\/\/oem.com.mx\/la-prensa\/analisis\/opinion-paul-alejandro-la-extraccion-de-petroleo-de-eu-en-el-golfo-supera-la-de-mexico-31043965<\/a> [Online]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in the month of April U.S. oil production broke a record, reaching 13,934 thousand barrels per day (mbd). After the conflict with Iran, the country not only positioned itself as the largest oil producer in the world, covering a large […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,38,41,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-energy-policy","category-oil-markets","category-pemex"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2136,"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134\/revisions\/2136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulalejandro.one\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}