(Bloomberg) — The board of Petroleos Mexicanos is considering a Mexico City finance official for the position of chief financial officer at the state oil company, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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Juan Carlos Carpio Fragoso, a close ally of incoming Energy Minister Luz Elena Gonzalez, will be considered next week at a board meeting where several strategic nominations for Pemex will be discussed, the people said, requesting anonymity because the discussion is not public.
Carpio was general director of Mexico City’s financial administration when newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum was mayor and Gonzalez was the capital’s finance minister.
A Pemex spokesperson did not immediately comment.
Pemex’s incoming leadership will face the Herculean task of turning around production, which has fallen to about half its peak two decades ago. The company’s debt load is approximately $99.4 billion, making it the most indebted oil producer in the world. The country has been saddled with deadly fires, oil spills and methane leaks in recent years, while infrastructure is crumbling. To keep its head above water, the country is heavily dependent on government subsidies.
Sheinbaum, who takes office on October 1, has reiterated her predecessor’s policy of supporting state-owned energy companies but has also spoken of the need to refinance Pemex’s debt next year before major maturities.
Sheinbaum named Victor Rodriguez Padilla, an energy economist and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, to the company’s top position in August.
Among the nominations the board will consider next week are those of Nestor Martinez for head of production and exploration, and Carlos Lechuga for head of industrial transformation, the area focused on refining and petrochemicals.
–With help from Alex Vasquez.
(Updates with additional names to be considered by the board in the final paragraph.)
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