The economic devastation inflicted upon Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche by the default of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has sent shockwaves through the local economy. The multi-million-dollar debt owed to suppliers has resulted in widespread layoffs, business closures, and a recession that demands urgent attention from the federal government.
Once hailed as Mexico’s oil boom capital, Ciudad del Carmen was transformed by the Cantarell project into a thriving national energy hub. At its peak, daily oil production in Mexico neared three million barrels, with much of it originating from this coastal city. The city’s hotels, restaurants, businesses, airlines, and service companies flourished due to Pemex’s presence.
However, that glory has faded into memory as Pemex repeatedly fails to honor its commitments to suppliers and contractors. According to Javier Bello Ávila, president of the Citizen Comptroller’s Office of Carmen, A.C., Pemex CEO Víctor Rodríguez Padilla personally promised to settle the debt, but only minimal payments have been delivered, equivalent to 5% of the total owed – approximately one trillion pesos.
The non-payment has a devastating multiplier effect on the local economy. Many small or medium-sized supplier companies are left without liquidity, access to financing, and certainty. This has triggered a domino effect: layoffs, company closures, reduced operations, talent migration, declining consumption, and rising unemployment.
The impact is evident in Ciudad del Carmen’s airport, which now operates only two daily flights compared to the eight it once had. The hotel sector reports minimal occupancy, and the National Chamber of Commerce confirms a drop of up to 70% in sales for its members. This is not a sectoral crisis but a systemic collapse.
It is unconscionable that Pemex, as a state-owned company, shifts the burden of its financial crisis onto those least able to bear it – its own suppliers. These companies are treated as involuntary financiers of institutional inefficiency and are met with empty promises and symbolic visits without concrete results.
Ciudad del Carmen is not only losing its productive muscle but also its hope. The lack of certainty has eroded trust between business owners, workers, and authorities. Speeches are no longer enough; action is needed.
The federal government, particularly Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, must take immediate action to recognize that Pemex’s viability cannot be built at the cost of destroying local economies. One possible solution would be to create an emergency program for immediate payment to verified suppliers with oversight by citizen entities and financial institutions. It is also necessary to reactivate productive credit mechanisms, establish secure payment chains, and redesign the contracting model so that no company must wait months or years to collect what it is legally owed.
Ciudad del Carmen deserves more than promises; its people, who helped build Mexico’s energy engine, today survive amidst abandonment and despair. Pemex’s debt is not just financial but a moral debt to a region that gave everything to the country and now cries out for economic justice. If the Fourth Transformation truly wants to be different, it must start by paying what is fair and saving from collapse a city that was, and can once again be, a powerhouse.
Source: Energy Magazine
