Pemex issues bond worth at least $1.5 bln to refinance debt – sources

MEXICO CITY, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Mexico’s Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has issued a 10 year-old bond worth at least $1.5 billion to refinance debt, two company sources said on Tuesday, as the cash-strapped state oil firm moved to secure financing during the first quarter.

“The funds obtained will be to pay bonds maturing this year,” one of the sources told Reuters, noting that Pemex planned to raise at least $1.5-2.0 billion to relieve financial pressure during the first quarter.

Pemex declined to comment.

Refinitiv news and market analysis service IFR said Pemex had launched a 10 year-bond expected to price on Tuesday.

Pemex’s debt payments due for the first quarter of 2023 stand between $5.5 billion and $6 billion, the firm’s Chief Executive Octavio Romero said this month.

The debt payments the company was due to make in January were being met with its own funds, the source said.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week the company will have “complete support” from the government, and that it had a plan to ensure pending bond payments are met.

The left-leaning Lopez Obrador has made turning around Pemex’s fortunes a priority of his administration.

Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez,
Editing by Dave Graham and Ed Osmond

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.