MEXICO CITY - Mexico, the world's No. 10 exporter of crude oil, will send a representative to a meeting of oil producing and consuming countries in Saudi Arabia on June 22 to address sky-high oil prices, an energy ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and OPEC's most influential member, has called a meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to address what it has called unjustified price rises.
Mexico, a non-OPEC member straining to keep its crude output steady amid falling yields at its giant Cantarell oil field, is still deciding whether to send Energy Minister Georgina Kessel or a representative of state-run oil monopoly Pemex.
"Mexico is participating, that's a fact," the ministry spokesman said.
Mexico is the world's No. 6 oil producer and the No. 10 exporter, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and a top three supplier to the U.S. market.
Yet Kessel indicated last week that Mexico would not be able to help in any decision to raise supply, after Pemex recently lowered its average output estimate for 2008 to 2.9 million barrels per day from 3.0 million previously.
Pemex has also slashed its 2008 oil export estimate to between 1.40 million bpd and 1.45 million bpd, 15 percent below its original target for the year.
"We have been very mindful of the call that has been made to increase production," Kessel said last week, and added: "You know perfectly well the problem that we are facing in Mexico."
High oil prices are a double-edged sword for Mexico, whose insufficient refining capacity means it must import about 40 percent of its gasoline, which dents its oil profits.
Many energy ministers, including U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, are expected to attend the Saudi meeting as well as the executive director of the International Energy Agency, big investment banks and oil majors like Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Oil prices slipped from record highs on Tuesday on plans by Saudi Arabia to increase output, as protests over soaring fuel costs spread across the globe.
U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 60 cents at $134.01 a barrel after hitting a record $139.89 on Monday. London Brent crude LCOc1 settled 99 cents lower at $133.72 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and OPEC's most influential member, has called a meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to address what it has called unjustified price rises.
Mexico, a non-OPEC member straining to keep its crude output steady amid falling yields at its giant Cantarell oil field, is still deciding whether to send Energy Minister Georgina Kessel or a representative of state-run oil monopoly Pemex.
"Mexico is participating, that's a fact," the ministry spokesman said.
Mexico is the world's No. 6 oil producer and the No. 10 exporter, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and a top three supplier to the U.S. market.
Yet Kessel indicated last week that Mexico would not be able to help in any decision to raise supply, after Pemex recently lowered its average output estimate for 2008 to 2.9 million barrels per day from 3.0 million previously.
Pemex has also slashed its 2008 oil export estimate to between 1.40 million bpd and 1.45 million bpd, 15 percent below its original target for the year.
"We have been very mindful of the call that has been made to increase production," Kessel said last week, and added: "You know perfectly well the problem that we are facing in Mexico."
High oil prices are a double-edged sword for Mexico, whose insufficient refining capacity means it must import about 40 percent of its gasoline, which dents its oil profits.
Many energy ministers, including U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, are expected to attend the Saudi meeting as well as the executive director of the International Energy Agency, big investment banks and oil majors like Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Oil prices slipped from record highs on Tuesday on plans by Saudi Arabia to increase output, as protests over soaring fuel costs spread across the globe.
U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 60 cents at $134.01 a barrel after hitting a record $139.89 on Monday. London Brent crude LCOc1 settled 99 cents lower at $133.72 a barrel.
