Pemex’s so-called “citizen bonds”, which Mexico’s Congress allowed state oil monopoly to publicly issue to as part of its October 28, 2008 Pemex reform package, are unlikely to be a significant source of financing for the company in 2009, according to Luis Flores, an economist at Ixe Banco who was quoted in report by The News.  Mr. Flores said that the citizen bonds would probably represent no more than 3 to 5 percent of Pemex’s total debt, meaning no more than US$300 million.

Mexico Law Blog included a detailed summary of the Pemex reforms in a November 3, 2008 post.

The citizen bonds appear to be something of a hybrid security: returns to bondholders are based on Pemex earnings but the bonds do not grant owners voting rights and do not pay a fixed coupon.   The October 28 reforms did not allow Pemex to issue equity interests to the public, contrary to the expectations of most investors and analysts.