Mexico's next president aims to end foreign fuel imports in three years

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will seek out the country's massive fuel imports, nearly all of the United States, during the first three years of his home improvement period.

The landslide winner of the last Sunday's election told reporters on Saturday morning before attending private meetings with members of his future cabinet that he will also prioritize growing crude oil production domestically, which has fallen sharply for years.

"The objective is that we stop buying gasoline by the half way point of my six-year term," said Lopez Obrador, repeating a position he and his senior energy advisor staked out during the campaign.

"We are going to immediately revive our oil activity, exploration and drilling of oil," he said.

On the campaign trail, the leftist train mayor of Mexico City, The United States of America, and the United States of America.

Lopez Obrador also reiterated on Saturday his goal to build a large or medium-sized oil refineries during his term, which begins on December 1.

While he said the Gulf states states of Tabasco and possibly Campeche, it would have been funded.

So far this year, Mexico has imported an average of about 590,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline and another 232,000 bpd of diesel, as the output of the country's domestic refineries has steadily declined.

Foreign gasoline imports have grown by nearly two-thirds, while diesel imports have more than doubled since 2013, the first year of outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto's term, according to data from national oil company Pemex.

Meanwhile, the six oil refineries in Mexico owned and operated by Pemex are producing at their capacity, or an average of 220,000 bpd of gasoline so far this year.

Gasoline production at the facilities is down 50 percent compared to 2013, and domestic gasoline output only accounts for the country's legions of motorists.

During the campaign, the two-time presidential runner-up also promised to strengthen Pemex. It also has a significant impact on the future of natural resources and their ability to operate in the United States.

The overhaul was designed to reverse a 14-year-long oil output and have already been awarded more than 100 exploration and production contracts to the likes of Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil.

"What is most important is to solve the problem of falling crude oil production. We're extracting very little oil, "said Lopez Obrador.

During the first five months of this year, Mexican crude oil production averaged about 1.9 million bpd, a dramatic drop compared to peak output of nearly 3.4 million bpd in 2004, or 2.5 million bpd in 2013.