Mexico announces debt sale to fortify Pemex's troubled finances

MEXICO CITY, July 22 (Reuters) - Mexico's finance ministry announced an upcoming operation on Tuesday aimed at strengthening the finances of the country's heavily-indebted state energy company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

In a statement, the ministry said the operation would consist of issuing financing instruments called pre-capitalized notes, but that the operation would not constitute a guarantee for the company.

The ministry's statement did not say how much the sale aimed at raising for Pemex.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources, that the government was looking to raise between $7 billion and $10 billion with the sale.

Pemex, the world's most indebted energy company, has an outstanding debt with an extensive list of suppliers and contractors of around $20 billion, in addition to another financial debt of $101 billion, despite the injection of billions of dollars from the government in the last few years to face the amortizations.

Pemex's international dollar bonds rallied on Tuesday after the government announced the debt operation.

Pemex bonds rose across the curve, with the 2050 issue 71654QDD1= up 2.6 cents at 80.65 cents on the dollar. Most maturities between 2027 and 2031 rose over 1 cent each.