SLB recovers $560 million from Mexico's heavily indebted Pemex
HOUSTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The world's largest oil services company, SLB, said on Wednesday that it was recovering $560 million of the $1.015 billion it is owed by Pemex via a financial institution that had loaned the Mexican state company money.
SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, said in its 2023 annual report that its "primary customer in Mexico" accounts for 13% of its accounts receivable and that it had issued a credit default swap to the bank to guarantee payment.
The notional amount of the CDS, which was increased from $275 million to $560 million in January 2024, will reduce on a monthly basis over its 26-month term," it said.
Neither Pemex nor SLB immediately responded to a request for additional comment.
Pemex racked up financial debt of more than $105 billion - mostly in the form of bonds, widely held by investors around the world - and an additional 17.220 billion in provider debt, the company's own data shows.
Its mounting debt with oil service providers as well as private crude oil and gas producers is now threatening production, investment and in some cases even the survival of suppliers.
Pemex has received tens of billions of dollars during the government of energy nationalist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the form of capitalizations, debt amortizations, rebates and tax benefits.
Even so, it has barely managed to avoid the decline in its crude oil and condensate production, which is around 1.9 million barrels per day. (Reporting by Gary McWilliams and Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Stephen Coates)
