Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos said it has reopened an oil-loading port in the Gulf of Mexico, but two other ports remained closed after stormy weather forced the company to reduce crude production by 600,000 barrels a day earlier this week.
In a statement Tuesday, Pemex said Cayo Arcas port's reopening would enable it to resume production in the Campeche Sound. But with the Pajaritos and Dos Bocas exporting ports still shut down, it was unclear how much oil would be produced and exported in the coming days.
The 600,000-barrel loss represents about a third of the 1.7 million barrels Pemex exports on a daily basis, primarily to the United States.
Weather conditions on Monday also forced the company to suspend efforts to fix a damaged valve line still spewing oil and natural gas almost a week after a platform-rig collision killed at least 21 workers.
The company also was struggling to contain a spill from a crack in a land pipeline in Veracruz state that dumped an estimated 10,000 barrels of oil into the Jaltepec and Coatzacoalcos coastal rivers. Pemex had set up five successive containment barriers to prevent that spill from reaching the downstream city of Coatzacoalcos and the Gulf.
Oil futures retreated from record high levels earlier in the day, in part due to the announcement that Mexican oil production was returning to normal.
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