Mexican state oil company Pemex asked your business unit to cancel up to 436 thousand barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil exports in April as it prepares to begin processing oil in the new Olmeca refinery, according to an internal document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Pemex and the Mexican Government They assured in January that the Dos Bocas refinery would begin producing gasoline and diesel in the first quarter, as part of the long-standing objective of the President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to free the country from its dependence on the supply of foreign fuels.
While, Pemex oil production fell in February to its lowest level in 45 yearsaccording to its own figures, restricting the supplies available for local refining.
“They either refine it or export it. There is not enough crude oil for both,” a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Cancellations are planned reduce exports of Maya crude oil, the flagship variety of Mexico, at 122 thousand bpd, the Isthmus at 247 thousand bpd and the Olmeca at 67 thousand bpd, According to the document.
It was not immediately clear whether more shipment cancellations would occur after April, but one of the people said Availability of Maya crude oil has been declining and was unlikely to be resolved soon.
Customers with forward contracts in Europe, the United States and Asia will be affected, source said. A second confirmed it.
Pemex did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Ministry of Energy (SE) expects that the refinery Dos Bocas processes an average of 178,600 bpd of crude oil this year. While the refinery is partially operational, it is not yet producing finished fuels.
In total, the ministry’s figures show that domestic crude oil processing is expected to increase by 713 thousand 300 bpd in 2023 to an average of 1.04 million bpd this year.
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The general director of Pemex, Octavio Romerorecently said that local refineries – including Dos Bocas – would process 1.7 million bpd by the end of 2024.