MEXICO CITY—Mexico's level of crude-oil production will move higher as new wells come online at existing fields, giving state-run oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, time to develop shale oil and gas resources in the medium term, followed by deep-water fields in subsequent years, the company's production chief said Friday.

"We now see conditions for a return to higher output," Carlos Morales, Pemex's head of exploration and production, said in an interview. "Today we are producing 2.565 million barrels...