Mexico's new refinery to be ready by September after Obrador leaves office: Pemex CEO

Mexico's new Olmeca refinery will achieve full operations in September, in the last month of the current administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, producing roughly 340,000 b/d of fuels, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza said July 19.

The Olmeca refinery, also known as Dos Bocas for the name of the port where it is located, is part of a national strategy conceived by López Obrador to halt the country's dependency on imported fuels. From January to June this year, Mexico has imported 500,000 b/d of oil products. The refinery's operation has been delayed for almost two years, although it was formally inaugurated in July 2022. Since then, the start date has been rescheduled multiple times.(opens in a new tab) Early in 2024, Romero Oropeza had promised to have first production by the summer.

Pemex is making strides in its refining strategy, reaching the highest level of crude processing at its six existing refineries since the second quarter of 2016 at 1.2 million b/d so far in 2024, Romero Oropeza said during the president's daily press conference.

"When we deliver the government to the new administration in September, we will have a processing capacity at the refineries of 1.7 million b/d," Romero Oropeza said. Dos Bocas refinery will begin operations "in the coming days" and the two coker units currently being built will be ready by the end of the year.

Total production of fuels will be close to 1.3 million b/d by the first quarter of 2025, including the production of Deer Park, he said. Deer Park is the refinery in Texas that was bought in this administration which was co-owned by Shell.

So far in 2024, the average has been 757,000 b/d, including the production of Deer Park, he said.