Mexico's Pemex names new COO in latest reshuffle

MEXICO CITY Oct 29 (Reuters) - Mexico's state oil monopoly Pemex named Carlos Rafael Murrieta as its new chief operating officer on Thursday, the latest switch after the government fired its chief executive amid a slump in oil production.

President Felipe Calderon replaced Pemex boss Jesus Reyes Heroles last month with former banker and beer executive Juan Jose Suarez.

In a Mexican stock market filing, Pemex [PEMX.UL] said Murrieta is a chemical engineer who has worked at Mexico's Petroleum Institute and as a private sector consultant, with oil sector experience in the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

Pemex is widely seen as a bloated bureaucracy and experts say it lacks the funding, expertise and access to strategic partnerships with other oil companies to tap new reserves and turn around its falling production.

Mexican oil production has fallen by more than a quarter since 2004, threatening a key plank of government revenues, as yields have dropped at its aging offshore Cantarell oil field.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)