Mexican oil exports accounted for only 3.2% of Mexico‘s total exports in 2025, their lowest level in decades.
From 2015 to 2025, the highest proportion of this indicator was reached in 2018 and 2022, when it stood at 6.8 percent in each of those years.
Mexican oil exports
In 2025, Mexico’s oil exports fell 26.4% year-on-year, totaling $21.246 billion, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography. In contrast, total exports of Mexican products increased 7.6% compared to 2024, to $664.837 billion.
Since 2014, given the greater availability of light crude oil in the United States and changes in international demand, Petróleos Mexicanos has expanded its geographic distribution. It has also adjusted its commercial strategy to diversify destinations and strengthen the position of Mexican crude oil in the international market.
Although Mexico is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, it has announced increases and decreases in crude oil exports. These adjustments reflect production revisions by other producing countries and seek to contribute to the stabilization of international prices.
Below is the trend in the percentage share of Mexican oil exports in total foreign sales of Mexican products:
- 2014: 10.8.
- 2015: 6.1.
- 2016: 5.0.
- 2017: 5.8.
- 2018: 6.8.
- 2019: 5.6.
- 2020: 4.1.
- 2021: 5.9.
- 2022: 6.8.
- 2023: 5.6.
- 2024: 4.6.
- 2025: 3.2.
Tax regime
The government implemented an oil price coverage program to protect oil revenues from falls in the average price of the Mexican export mix. The mechanism seeks to mitigate reductions in resources derived from external crude oil sales.
This program compensated for the drop in oil revenues in 2020. However, it was not necessary in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, as the average price was above the covered level, avoiding additional activations of the scheme.
In addition, a new tax regime for Petróleos Mexicanos was announced in November 2024. The Welfare Oil Tax replaces the Exploration Tax, the Profit Sharing Tax, and the Hydrocarbon Extraction Tax with a single tax of 30% on oil and 11.63% on non-associated natural gas.