New Delhi

The board at Petroleos Mexicanos is to consider a Mexico City finance official for the post of chief financial officer in the state-owned oil firm, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

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One of the closest associates of incoming energy minister Luz Elena Gonzalez is Juan Carlos Carpio Fragoso, who is to be considered next week in a board meeting where several key strategic appointments for Pemex are up for discussion.

Carpio was the general director of financial administration for Mexico City when President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum was mayor. Gonzalez was the finance minister of the capital.

A spokesman for Pemex didn’t immediately comment.

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The incoming leadership of Pemex will face the enormous task of turning around production that has slumped to about half its peak 20 years ago. It is the world's most indebted oil producer, with debt obligations of $99.4 billion. In recent years, it has been marred by deadly fires, oil spills, and methane leaks as its infrastructure ages. It survives due to government subsidies.

Sheinbaum, who will assume her position on Oct. 1, has reaffirmed her predecessor's policy of supporting state-owned energy companies, but she has also recognized the need to service Pemex's debt next year before significant refinancing deadlines arrive.

Sheinbaum named Victor Rodriguez Padilla, an economist with a focus on energy and professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, for the company’s top job in August.

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The board will also consider Nestor Martinez as head of production and exploration and Carlos Lechuga as head of industrial transformation, an umbrella term that includes refining and petrochemicals.