Mexican President Looks To Inaugurate Unfinished Refinery

Mexican President Andre?s Manuel Lo?pez Obrador plans to inaugurate the new Dos Bocas oil refinery on Friday, despite its unfinished status, Reuters reported. While Lo?pez Obrador and En- ergy Minister Roci?o Nahle had said in 2019 that the refinery would be ready by this year, it will only be running near full capacity in 2025, two sources familiar with the matter told the wire service. The refinery project, which initially had an $8 billion budget at its start, may have costs reaching as much as $18 billion, 

Bloomberg News reported June 15. Earlier this month, Nahle told a Mexican radio station that she is unsure about when the Dos Bocas, also known as the Olmeca, refinery will produce its first barrel of oil, Reuters reported. “I don’t want to give a date because it would be irresponsible,” she said. “A year is a reasonable amount of time, I’d like to do it sooner,” she added. “It is a huge, monumental thing ... everything must be harmonized to obtain the fuel. It will take time,”

Lo?pez Obrador said of Dos Bocas last week, the wire service reported. When the refinery is operating at full capacity, it is expected to be able to process 340,000 barrels of crude per day, which will add approximately 20 percent to the current refining capacity in Mexico, Bloomberg News reported. 

Lo?pez Obrador will only inaugurate the first portion of the 17-plant complex whose construction Mexican state-owned oil company Petro?leos Mexicanos is overseeing on July 1, exactly four years after he won the Mexican presidency in 2018, Reuters reported. 

By Latin America Energy Advisor

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