It’s not just the production. The Mexican government treats Pemex like a giant piggy-bank. Since 2002, Pemex’s total debt has exceeded its annual revenues. And throughout that same period, the Mexican government has levied an ever-higher tax load on the company. Between 2001 and 2006, total taxes paid by Pemex nearly doubled, reaching $54 billion in 2006. Those taxes have meant that, since 2000, Pemex has been allowed to show profits in just one year (2006) – an amazing situation, given the boom in global oil prices. Last year, the company’s debt nearly equaled its assets, and total debt exceeded total revenues by some $13.6 billion.

That bleak financial picture at Pemex should worry the Mexican government, which gets 37 percent of its revenues from the oil sector. It should also concern the U.S., since Mexico is its second-largest supplier of crude.

Finally, and perhaps most important, it appears that the Mexican Congress has little sense of urgency about the problems at Pemex. According to Galina, it recently compiled a list of the 15 biggest problems facing Mexico. Oil wasn’t one of them.