Leading The Biggest Company In Latin America

The biggest company in Mexico and Latin America is PEMEX (Petroleos Mexicanos).  It is actually a monopoly which began in 1938 when the Mexican government banned all foreign drillers and formed a national oil company.  Only a handful of oil companies can do what PEMEX does.  It is performs in all the productive chain in the industry. It does the exploration, distribution and commercialization of all the products.  In 2010 average production of crude petroleum was around 2.576 million barrels a day.

Heading this huge company is Dr. Juan Jose Suarez Coppel who is the CEO and Director General. He has held this position since September 2009.  With its huge size and available area for exploration and drilling you may think he has an easy job.  In fact his job is actually difficult as PEMEX cannot be run like an ordinary private oil firm since it is government owned.  

For one PEMEX sends most of its profits to the government. It currently accounts for one third of the government’s income which is a huge amount. This is something that the government cannot forego. There are also many government interests who want their own say in running the company.  Wages are also pegged to government scale which is lower than the oil industry’s. This means it can’t hire the best or retain the best workers.

Thus the company has large potentials which it can’t fully exploit.  Suarez is very much aware of this but understands the changes won’t happen overnight and it will take a lot hard work.   Prior to heading PEMEX he held a number of high positions in other companies such as CFO and Vice President of Administration and Finance at Grupo Modelo, S.A.B. de V.C.