Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 15 2022

LatAmOil MEXICO LatAmOil

Nahle: Olmeca refinery will cost $9.8bn

MEXICO’S Energy Minister Rocio Nahle has
acknowledged that the cost of building the
Olmeca refinery, formerly known as Dos Bocas,
is likely to be closer to $10bn than the originally
projected $8bn.
In an interview with El Universal published
on April 13, Nahle said that the price tag for
the oil-processing plant was now set to reach
$9.8bn, up by $900mn on the most recent esti-
mate. She attributed the increase to the expand-
ing scope of the project, noting that the national
oil company (NOC) Pemex had decided to take
the steps needed to ensure the refinery’s abil-
ity to operate independently. These steps have
included the construction of a co-generation Archive photo of Olmeca refinery construction site (Photo: LopezObrador.org.mx)
plant, an aqueduct and a 65-km natural gas
pipeline, she explained. production on July 2, in line with the originally
“These are part of the extensions. That’s why announced schedule. She did not say how much
we went further,” she remarked. “At the begin- crude the plant would be able to handle in its
ning, the refinery was at $8.9bn, and with the initial stages of operation or when it might reach
expansion of the gas pipeline, aqueduct and its full design capacity of 340,000 barrels per day
combined-cycle [plant], we are going to [need] (bpd).
$9.8bn.” Pemex is building the Olmeca refinery
Her estimate is higher than the $9bn figure with the support of Mexican President Andres
given just last month by Mexican President Manuel Lopez Obrador. Lopez Obrador is
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Meanwhile, keen to ensure that Pemex retains its leading
many industry observers have speculated that role within Mexico’s fuel and energy industry,
the refinery’s final cost may amount to $12bn or and he sees the refinery project as a means of
more, fully 50% above the original estimate of ensuring that all Mexican oil production can be
$8bn. refined locally, thereby ensuring that domestic
The energy minister also told El Universal petroleum product supplies remain plentiful
that the Olmeca refinery would be ready to start and cheap. ™

Eni exports first oil cargo from Area 1

ENI (Italy) has successfully off-loaded and In its statement, Eni emphasised that it had
exported its first cargo of crude oil from Area 1, succeeded in bringing Area 1 on stream quickly,
a shallow-water licence area located off the coast after launching early production operations at
of Tabasco State in the southern Gulf of Mexico, Miztón in June 2019 and less than three and a
using the Miamte MV 34 floating production, half years after making a final investment deci-
storage and off-loading (FPSO) unit. sion (FID) on the Area 1 project. It said it had
The Italian major published a statement been able to fast-track the project as a result of
to this effect on April 14 and described this co-operation with Mexico’s central government
development as an “important milestone.” It and local authorities, and also reiterated its com-
explained that it had been “the first international mitment to keeping the project on schedule and
energy company to develop a complex offshore in line with contractual obligations.
project [that had been] able to export the oil to Additionally, it pledged to support the Mex-
[the] international market.” ican government in the implementation of its
The company did not reveal the size of the plans for the development of the energy indus-
cargo or offer any other details. According to try and called Mexico a “key country in [its]
previous reports, the FPSO has been handling organic growth strategy.”
crude oil from Miztón, the first oilfield to begin The Miamte MV 34 is a newbuild vessel
production at Area 1, since February 24. (The capable of handling 90,000 barrels per day (bpd)
block also includes the Amoca and Tecoalli of crude oil and 75mn cubic metres per day of
fields.) natural gas.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 14•April•2022