MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A security official with Mexico’s state oil company, Pemex, was killed in an attack in the border state of Tamaulipas, the company’s chief executive said on Sunday.

Jaime Juarez, 53, was in a vehicle doing surveillance work in the city of Matamoros on Friday when it was hit with 60 bullets. His colleague survived the attack.

Juarez was just a few months from completing 20 years with Pemex, the company said in a statement, and had most recently worked combating the fuel theft that costs Pemex more than $1 billion a year.

Drug cartels seeking to diversify income streams have preyed on Pemex, making fuel theft one of Mexico’s most pressing security issues.

The head of security at one of Mexico’s six state-run oil refineries was shot to death in January.