Mexico City, Dec 29 (IANS): Mexico's state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is looking to suspend its crude exports by 2023 to allocate all of its output toward domestic consumption, CEO Octavio Romero has said.

During the presentation of a program to achieve energy self-sufficiency, Romero added that the strategy calls for first reducing Mexico's crude exports in 2022 to 435,000 barrels per day, Xinhua news agency reported.

"By 2023 and by 2024, practically all of Pemex's production is going to be processed and refined" for the domestic market, said Pemex CEO, who was accompanied by Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Pemex's refining capacity will be expanded once the Dos Bocas refinery begins operating. Starting December 2018, the refinery has been the most important infrastructure project of the Lopez Obrador administration.

Refining will also get a boost from the rehabilitation of Mexico's six existing refineries and acquisition of the Deer Park refinery based in Houston of US state of Texas.

"Practically 100 per cent of Mexican crude is going to be refined in our country to guarantee fuel supplies," Romero said.

Lopez Obrador's administration is working to strengthen Pemex, whose finances were depleted in recent years by constant transfers of funds to government coffers amid a decline in its crude output.

International credit rating agencies have even threatened to lower the country's investment grade rating if the state company's finances do not improve.