ANOTHER YEAR OF

We were confronted with many challenges in 2015 that we managed to successfully overcome, and that, in turn, allowed us to meet and in some cases surpass the goals we had set for ourselves for 2015.

An adverse environment owing to falling prices for oil and its derivatives

In 2015, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 30% from USD53.27 to USD37.04, and that came on top of the 46% price reduction accumulated between oil’s price peak in June 2013 and the end of December 2014. The price of oil fell a total of 62% between June 2013 and the end of 2015, but the related difficulties posed obstacles that we managed to surpass.

Lower prices for the products we distribute

Although the drop in dollar prices was partially offset by the weakening of the Mexican currency relative to the US dollar, the peso prices of the oil derivatives that Grupo Pochteca distributes fell by between 10% and 35% over the course of the year.

Oil industry slowdown

The severe contraction in the number of active oil rigs has continued unabated in a sign of the profoundly recessive environment enveloping the oil industry. According to data published on line by Baker Hughes, the number of active rigs in the United States, Mexico and Brazil continued to fall significantly during 2015 with declines of 61%, 42% and 10%, respectively.

Those reductions in activity came on top of the collapse experienced during 2014, when the number of active rigs fell by 38% in Mexico and 42% in Brazil and experienced no growth in the United States.