Mexico's Pemex says crude oil output rise in January

Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex said on Tuesday its crude output rose slightly in January as it fixed technical problems at its Cantarell field, but the figure was still one of the lowest seen in recent years.
Pemex said oil production rose to 3.153 million barrels per day this month, up 6 percent from December's rock-bottom level but still the lowest since Hurricane Emily hit production in July 2005 and unlikely to reassure analysts concerned Mexico is struggling to deal with the aging Cantarell's sudden decline.
Overall crude oil output fell to 2.978 million bpd in December, its lowest level in years, as Pemex battled with a computer fault at a gas-lift plant at Cantarell and had to halt operations there for the equivalent of several days. The problem was mostly resolved in January, although there was still some disruption.
Cantarell, which has historically churned out 60 percent of Mexico's oil, produced just 1.493 million bpd of crude in December, down 25 percent from 1.998 million a year earlier.
On Monday, a source at Pemex told Reuters that even though the December figure was affected by technical problems that were now mostly resolved, yields at Cantarell were clearly sliding faster than previously feared.
That report appeared to prompt Pemex to release the production estimates for January on Tuesday, around three weeks early, hoping to calm industry watchers rattled by latest data. The figures are based on output data up until January 29.
The state-run company said January output at Cantarell, a shallow offshore field in the Gulf of Mexico, was up around 7 percent from December at 1.6 million bpd.
Oil markets and financial analysts alike are watching Cantarell like hawks amid signs yields are declining fast since output peaked there in 2003. Mexico's economy leans heavily on oil exports, and the nation is a top three supplier of crude to the United States.
The Pemex source said output at the 28-year-old oil field was now seen around 1.5 million bpd or less in 2007, a figure the company previously expected to hit in 2008. But in a statement on Tuesday, Pemex said the rate of decline at Cantarell was "consistent with the way the oil field was expected to behave". It said new drilling projects would continue to compensate.