Mexico's Pemex posts 1st-qtr net profit vs loss

MEXICO CITY, April 28 (Reuters) - Mexican state-run oil monopoly Pemex posted a 3.3 billion peso first-quarter net profit on Monday, compared to a net loss of 10.4 billion pesos a year earlier, aided by improved operating results and higher sales.

Pemex said its total sales rose 32.4 percent to 321.5 billion pesos as prices for crude, natural gas and other by-products rose across the board.

Mexico's crude oil mix -- which recently touched an all-time high of $98 a barrel -- sold at an average of $83.1 per barrel in the first quarter, up from $47.9 a year earlier.

Pemex reported a $1.48 billion net loss for 2007, as higher energy imports knocked it back into the red after it managed a rare annual profit in 2006.

High oil prices helped cushion Pemex's woes as the company struggled with declining yields at its huge but aging Cantarell offshore oil field.

Pemex said crude production dropped 7.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to an average of 2.911 million barrels per day. Average crude exp