Competitiveness of Mexican crude (in English and Spanish)
Mexico is under great pressure to maintain oil export revenue levels if it is to avoid a reversal in its economic recovery program. While the country's vulnerability to a price plunge is also applicable to OPEC countries, the North Sea producers, and others, Mexico does have an ace. The ace is that its heavier, metals-ridden and sulfur-laden Maya crude, which had to be pushed on customers until about 1981, is now in strong demand. Comparisons are presented of the market value of five crude oils refined in the US Gulf Coast: West Texas Intermediate (or WTI, a 40/sup 0/ API, light), Arabian Light and Isthmus (both 34/sup 0/ medium-light), Alaska North Slope (or ANS, a 27/sup 0/ API, a medium), and Maya (22/sup 0/ API, medium-heavy). In this mix, the heavier the crude, the greater is the refining margin (except for Arabian Light, for which freight cost and product yield provide lower margins than those derived from WTI). The sacrifice by OPEC and other producers cutting crude oil prices was to the benefit to refiners' improved margins during the first half of 1983. Those cuts were on the lighter-quality oils. But prices for heavier Venezuelan, Californian, and Mexican crudes increased during the second half of 1983, due to developing refinery technologies in extracting favorable product yields from them. This issue of Energy Detente presents their fuel price/tax series and industrial fuel prices for December 1983 for countries of the Western Hemisphere.
- OSTI ID:
- 5522149
- Journal Information:
- Energy Detente; (United States), Journal Name: Energy Detente; (United States) Vol. 4:24; ISSN EDETD
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English and Spanish
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CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
DATA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INDUSTRY
INFORMATION
LATIN AMERICA
MATERIALS
MEXICO
NATURAL GAS
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
PRICES
PROCESSING
PROFITS
REFINING
STATISTICAL DATA
TAXES