(Adds monthly data, details)
By Robert Campbell
MEXICO CITY, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Mexican oil production and exports fell last year to their lowest levels in 13 years as output from the giant Cantarell field dwindled, state oil company Pemex said on Wednesday.
Mexico pumped an average of 2.799 million barrels per day in 2008, down 9.2 percent from 2007 and the lowest annual average rate of production since 1995, when it produced 2.617 million bpd.
Pemex attributed the fall in output to the sharp decline in production at Cantarell as well as operational difficulties, including the unanticipated curtailment of oil production and exports after Hurricane Ike shuttered several major U.S. refineries.
The slide in production sent exports tumbling by 16.8 percent to 1.403 million bpd, the lowest level the country exported since an average of 1.305 million bpd in 1995.
Output from Cantarell dropped 461,000 bpd, or 36 percent, in 2008, Pemex said. Cantarell produced 811,000 bpd in December, according to government figures released on Wednesday.
The continued slide in output at Cantarell means the field will be eclipsed by the Ku Maloob Zaap complex as Mexico's biggest oil producer in early 2009, Pemex said.
The Ku Maloob Zaap fields, which produce heavy crude similar to that pumped at Cantarell, produced an average of 781,000 bpd in December, according to government data.
Overall, Mexican oil production edged up in December to 2.717 million bpd from 2.711 million bpd in November, but it was down sharply from December 2007, when Pemex produced 2.954 million bpd.
Mexican oil exports in December were also lower at 1.328 million bpd, down from 1.496 million bpd the same month a year earlier.
Gasoline imports were also lower at 255,600 bpd, compared with 329,600 bpd in December 2007.
Gasoline imports for the year averaged 336,200 bpd, up 9.1 percent versus 2007. Mexican gasoline imports had been rising steadily as domestic demand outstripped local refinery output.
Imports of refined products are likely to continue to rise in the coming years. Pemex has announced plans to build a new 300,000 bpd refinery, but the facility is unlikely to be completed before the 2015. (Editing by Walter Bagley)