Earlier today, Pemex, the country's state owned oil company, reported that its crude production fell by 6.9% year-on-year in February to 2.929 million b/d, while crude exports plummeted by 19.4% to 1.429 million b/d.

It's interesting to note that natural gas output in February, where there is foreign investment allowed, specifically in the Burgos Basin, was 6.54 Bcf/d, a record high for any month. It's up 12.5% from February of last year. There's no foreign investment allowed in other areas of the country.

The drop in exports is a sign of what is happening in numerous other oil exporting countries. Local demand is rising, and so not only did crude exports get hit, but Mexico's gasoline imports meanwhile rose by 32.8% year-on-year, to 338,600 b/d.

These numbers come just a few weeks after Pemex executives held a conference call to paint an optimistic picture. That call was to announce a full 2007 performance in which Mexican crude output was down 5.3%, to 3.082. So production already is down more than 150,000 b/d from the average 2007 output.

During that call, Pemex officials said the offshore Cantarell development, the heart of the Mexican industry, should stabilize its output at 1.2 to 1.3 million b/d this year; current production is in that range. Cantarell output suffered a 20% drop in 2007.