Mexican state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos on Thursday said it recorded an after-tax loss of $4.4 billion in the second quarter, as lower oil prices and output hit sales and hefty exchange losses boosted its financial costs. Sales in the quarter fell 17% from a year earlier to $13.5 billion. Pemex’s hydrocarbons production fell 3.4% in the quarter, with crude oil output down 2.2% to 2.18 million barrels a day and natural gas output off 6.4% at 5.88 billion cubic feet a day. Crude oil prices averaged $36.69 per barrel compared with $52.92 in the second quarter of 2015. Output of the company’s refineries fell 5.4%, partly because of unscheduled maintenance shutdowns. The second-quarter loss was slightly smaller in Mexican peso terms than that of a year earlier. Meanwhile, Pemex’s operating profit rose 91% to $6.6 billion, lifted by reduced cost of sales. The peso’s slide to new […]