Mexico’s state energy company Pemex is unlikely to produce any commercially viable motor fuels at its new Olmeca refinery before the end of the year, five sources said, despite pressure that it should be ready before the outgoing president’s term ends.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a resource nationalist, inaugurated the 340,000-barrel-per-day refinery in July 2022 in his home state Tabasco, billing it as crucial to energy self-sufficiency for Mexico. However, delays at the refinery, whose cost has more than doubled to $16.8 billion, means it will be up to his successor Claudia Sheinbaum to try to make the dream a reality when she takes office on Oct. 1.
As recently as last Thursday, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero insisted during an industry event the refinery would “work at full capacity next month.” Now, five sources familiar with the operations told Reuters that it was impossible to meet these targets and that progress had been exaggerated ahead of the June presidential election.
Engineers are still working on individual parts of the refinery and will then face the even bigger challenge of linking them, a process that can take months. The most optimistic scenario is that the first of two production lines would be ready between October and November.
Parts that still need work include the fluid catalytic cracking plant, the hydrodesulfurization plant, and the coker plant, which are crucial for producing lighter fuel products. Pemex had sought to demonstrate the refinery’s operational status by bringing in high-sulfur diesel, but this was not produced from crude oil as is the plan.