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LatAmOil MEXICO LatAmOil

Former Pemex head accuses three

Mexican presidents of corruption

EMILIO Lozoya, the former head of Mexico’s 2019. He was then arrested by Spanish police
national oil and gas major Pemex, has claimed in the southern part of the country in February
that three former Mexican presidents were and boarded a plane for his return to Mexico last
involved in alleged acts of corruption. Lozoya, month.
who is currently under investigation for cor- Odebrecht, which is Latin America’s larg-
ruption, also pointed a finger at ministers, law- est engineering conglomerate, has admitted to
makers, political aides and a journalist, Reuters having engaged in bribery schemes in 12 coun-
reported last week. tries. The firm’s activities have been linked to the
According to leaked testimony, Lozoya said so-called Operation Car Wash investigation,
Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico’s former president, Brazil’s worst-ever corruption scandal. A state
and his finance minister, Luis Videgaray, had investigation into the matter began in 2014 and
instructed him to pay bribes and buy votes in is ongoing; so far, it has revealed a web of graft
Congress. In a 63-page declaration, Lozoya also and bribery involving state-run companies and
denounced two other former presidents, Felipe their contractors, including Odebrecht.
Calderon and Carlos Salinas, for “acts possibly In 2017, the company was sentenced to pay
constituting crimes” alongside Nieto and others. fines amounting to $2.6bn. ™
Some of Lozoya’s allegations relate to corrup-
tion he claims took place before he took the reins
at Pemex, Reuters noted. Many of the accused
have already publicly denied the accusations.
The former Pemex chief was extradited from
Spain last month. He returned to Mexico to face
charges of taking $10mn in bribes from the Bra-
zilian company Odebrecht. He has denied any
wrongdoing and has pledged to co-operate with
the police enquiry.
Lozoya served as CEO of Pemex between
2012 and 2016 and fled to Spain following accu-
sations that he had received substantial bribes
from Odebrecht. Interpol included his name on
a list of fugitives wanted internationally in May Lozoya was Pemex’s CEO in 2012-2016 (Photo: Expansion.mx)

Canadian company hoping to push

Mexican onshore projects forward

RENAISSANCE Oil (Canada) is looking to at both the Mundo Nuevo and Malva blocks,
push forward with upstream development which yielded a combined 1,215 barrels of oil
projects in Mexico, despite the setbacks it has equivalent per day (boepd) on average in the
suffered this year as a result of the coronavirus second quarter of 2020. It also indicated, though,
(COVID-19) pandemic and other factors. that output at the third block had declined
In a statement dated August 25, Renaissance because of the shut-in at Topén-3.
reported that it had experienced problems at its The company did not comment on output
licence areas in the southern state of Chiapas. levels at Topén, but it did note that the three
The company won the right to develop three blocks in Chiapas had been less profitable in the
onshore blocks in Chiapas – Mundo Nuevo, second quarter. “The company’s cash flows have
Topén and Malva – in late 2015. been negatively impacted by the continued delay
On the operational side, Renaissance said in receipt of payments on its sales of oil and nat-
it had been able to maintain production levels ural gas production.

Week 34 27•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11