Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state oil monopoly, said November crude production fell 8.2 percent as the company failed to stem or make up for a three-year decline at its largest field.

Output fell to 2.9 million barrels of oil a day from 3.16 million a year earlier, Mexico City-based Pemex, as the company is known, said today in a report. Daily production also fell from 2.995 million barrels in October, when storms caused temporary shutdowns of offshore oil platforms.

Pemex's daily oil output dropped below 3 million barrels for three months this year as the company failed to meet the goal Chief Executive Officer Jesus Reyes Heroles set in June of keeping production at 3.1 million barrels a day until 2012. Reyes Heroles declined to comment about the declines after a press conference today in Mexico City.

Pemex's daily oil production may drop by 1 million barrels to 2.1 million barrels in nine years unless Mexico's Congress changes laws to give the company more independence and allow more private investment in the industry, Energy Minister Georgina Kessel said in a Dec. 11 speech.

Legislators will discuss an energy reform bill in the Congressional session that begins in February. The bill may allow private companies to invest in oil refining and pipelines to free up funds for Pemex to spend on exploration and production, Senator Ruben Camarillo, a member of President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party, said this week.

State Control

Under Mexican law, government-owned Pemex controls the oil industry, including everything from production to refining to selling gasoline at the pump.

Since it peaked at 3.38 million barrels per day in 2004, Pemex's oil production has been dropping, led by a decline at its Cantarell field. For the first 11 months this year, production has averaged 3.09 million barrels, the company said.

November output at Cantarell fell 23 percent from a year earlier to 1.28 million barrels a day, according to Mexico's Energy Information Agency. Output fell 3.2 percent from October's daily average.

Pemex, the third-largest oil provider to the U.S., exported 1.87 million barrels of oil per day in November, a 4.5 percent increase from a year earlier and a 25 percent jump from the previous month, according to today's report. The increase over the previous month was caused in part by inclement weather in October that blocked oil shipments and forced Pemex to stockpile crude.

Daily natural-gas production for November was 6.09 billion cubic feet, a 9.5 percent gain from a year earlier and a 4.1 percent decline from October.

To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas Black in Monterrey, Mexico, at tblack@bloomberg.net; Andres R. Martinez in Chicago at amartinez28@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 20, 2007 14:36 EST