Mexico sees crude output between 2.2 mln to 2.3 mln bpd in 2016

Mexico expects crude oil production to remain near current levels next year, at between 2.2 million and 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, Deputy Energy Minister Lourdes Melgar told reporters on Tuesday.

Crude output in Mexico stood at 2.27 million bpd in July, according to data from national oil company Pemex.

Output has dropped by nearly a third since hitting peak production of 3.4 million bpd in 2004. A slump in oil output this year has weighed on growth in Latin America's second-largest economy.

Mexico's Congress finalized a sweeping energy overhaul last year, which ended the decades-long monopoly enjoyed by Pemex and opened the sector to private producers in the hopes of luring new investment into the flagging sector.

An ongoing series of oil auctions this year has to date yielded disappointing results, with only one consortium of private companies winning two shallow water blocks last month.