Scott Squires, Bloomberg News

MEXICO CITY
EnergiesNet.com 01 05 2024

Petroleos Mexicanos is expecting fuel output to increase about 60% in 2024 from the previous year, driven by ramped up production at its Dos Bocas refinery, Pemex’s chief executive officer Octavio Romero Oropeza said in a press briefing Thursday.

Pemex expects to produce 1.05 million barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel per day in 2024, almost 60% more than the 655,000 barrels per day produced last year, Romero said.

The estimate comes as Pemex prepares to increase capacity this year at the Dos Bocas refinery, which is projected to produce about 274,000 barrels per day of fuel by September, Romero said. 

The estimate is a positive sign for the oil explorer, which has suffered from flagging production and revenues that have complicated the company’s efforts to whittle down a hefty debt burden. Government help for the state-owned oil producer has done little to reverse the company’s financial decline, as the administration of Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has lavished support on the company with tax cuts and capital injections. 

Also known as Olmeca, Dos Bocas is Mexico’s largest refinery. The facility began operations in September and should reach full rates in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency.

Pemex is also expected to increase crude processing to 1.51 million barrels per day in 2024, which will then grow to more than 1.78 million barrels per day in 2025 and 2026, Romero said.

Last week, Mexico ordered the temporary occupation of a hydrogen plant operated by Air Liquide, at the Miguel Hidalgo refinery in the town of Tula. The plant, which will now be operated by Pemex’s refining arm Pemex Transformación Industrial, is home to one of Mexico’s largest hydrotreaters, which use hydrogen to remove sulfur from diesel and gasoline in the refining process.

bloomberg.com 01 04 2024