Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 19 2022
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LatAmOil                                          MEXICO                                            LatAmOil



       AMLO wants Pemex to divulge




       information on Vitol bribes






                         MEXICAN President Andres Manuel Lopez   legal motions on several occasions since then,
                         Obrador said on May 10 that he intended to   the most recent of which occurred earlier this
                         ask the national oil company (NOC) Pemex for   spring.
                         information on bribes allegedly paid to govern-  In the meantime, Reuters said, it has also
                         ment officials by Vitol, a Swiss-based commodi-  attempted to probe more deeply into the alleged
                         ties trading firm. The latter company is currently   incidents of bribery.
                         being sued by the NOC on charges related to   The NOC took legal action against Vitol
                         bribery allegations.                 shortly after wrapping up spending months
                           Speaking during his daily press conference,   re-negotiating several contracts worth hundreds
                         Lopez Obrador indicated that the government   of millions of US dollars. Pemex had cancelled
                         had been made aware that Pemex had knowl-  the original contracts, calling them insufficiently
                         edge of the matter. “Apparently, the informa-  favourable to Mexico City, and announced that
                         tion about who received those bribes is already   it would not sign any new contracts with the
                         known,” he said, according to a Reuters report.   trader.
                         “We’re going to ask Pemex to report on this   Lopez Obrador’s government has repeatedly
                         today.”                              expressed concern about corruption related to
                           The president did not say whether Mexico   dealings with international commodities trad-
                         City had learned that Pemex was up to date on   ing firms, and Vitol is not the only company to
                         the matter through its own internal investiga-  feel the weight of that concern. Last autumn,
                         tions or because Vitol had named the officials   Mexico City suspended five of Singapore-based
                         who took the bribes. Nor did he offer any details   Trafigura’s fuel import contracts. ™
                         about the nature of the government’s request to
                         Pemex.
                           Vitol, for its part, declined to comment when
                         contacted by Reuters.
                           For its part, the NOC said in a statement pub-
                         lished later on May 10 that it had been working
                         to discover the names of the people who had
                         accepted the bribes. Thus far, the statement said,
                         Vitol has been telling Pemex that it does not have
                         the names of the individuals involved.
                           Pemex filed suit against Vitol in December
                         2020, complaining that the Swiss-based trader
                         had disrupted its business operations through
                         bribery and corruption. It then broadened the
                         scope of the legal action in February 2021 and
                         has introduced new evidence to the court via   The president claims Pemex knows who received the bribes (File Photo)




                                                     NICARAGUA
       Owji says Iran is considering investing



       in new oil refinery project in Nicaragua






                         FOLLOWING high-level meetings in Vene-  Nicaragua, where he told reporters that Iran
                         zuela last week, Iran has said it is considering   would study a potential investment in an oil
                         investing in a new refinery in Nicaragua.  refinery at the Supremo Sueño de Bolivar indus-
                           As part of his tour of Latin America, Iranian   trial complex (CIESSB) near Puerto Sandino on
                         Oil Minister Javad Owji met with officials in   the country’s Pacific coast.



       P6                                       www. NEWSBASE .com                           Week 19   12•May•2022
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