Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 45 2021

LatAmOil MEXICO LatAmOil

Mexican judge orders former

Pemex CEO to be held in prison

A Mexican judge has issued an order that will Lozoya served as CEO of Pemex between
see Emilio Lozoya, the former head of Mexico’s 2012 and 2016. He fled to Spain following accu-
national oil company (NOC) Pemex, held in sations that he had received substantial bribes
prison for preventive detention. from Odebrecht and was added to Interpol’s list
Lozoya is a key figure in a corruption scandal of fugitives wanted internationally in May 2019.
that has connections to the Brazilian construc- Subsequently, he was arrested by Spanish police
tion firm Novonor, formerly known as Odebre- in the south of the country in February 2020 and
cht. He has been detained on multiple charges boarded a plane back to Mexico in August 2020.
– including bribery, criminal association and Novonor, which is Latin America’s largest
the use of resources of illicit origin – and if con- engineering conglomerate, has admitted to
victed, he could face up to 30 years in prison, having used bribery schemes in 12 countries.
according to a Reuters report. The firm’s activities have been linked to the
At a hearing held last week, the Mexican “Operation Car Wash” investigation, which has
attorney general’s office justified the request for gone down in history as Brazil’s worst-ever cor-
permission to detain Lozoya by saying that he ruption scandal. The state investigation into the
represented a flight risk. It also pointed out that scandal, which began in 2014 and is ongoing,
the former CEO had not met all the criteria for has revealed a ring of graft and bribery between
classification as a co-operating witness, Reuters state companies and contractors, including
noted. Odebrecht. In 2017, the company was sentenced
In August 2020, Lozoya was extradited from to pay fines amounting to $2.6bn. ™
Spain to Mexico to face corruption charges
related to bribery at Odebrecht. Mexican police
officials say he has been accused of taking
$10mn in bribes from the Brazilian company.
The former CEO has denied any wrongdo-
ing and has also said he will co-operate with the
police inquiry. He did manage to avoid being
sent to prison while on trial, after agreeing to
co-operate as a witness in the Odebrecht case.
To date, Lozoya has claimed that three former
Mexican presidents may have been involved in
acts of corruption. According to court testimony
leaked last year, he has also levelled accusations
of corruption against ministers, lawmakers,
political aides and a journalist. Former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya (File Photo)

Sempra identifies Vista Pacifico LNG

terminal project as a high priority

US-BASED Sempra Energy has indicated that He explained that the project would involve the
it sees the Vista Pacifico LNG project, which construction of a gas liquefaction plant and an
envisions the construction of a gas liquefaction LNG export terminal. These facilities will be
and export terminal in Topolobampo, a port in built at a site adjacent to an existing petroleum
Mexico’s Sinaloa state, as a high priority. product terminal in Topolobampo, he told
During an earnings call on November 5, analysts.
Justin Bird, the CEO of the company’s Sempra Bird pointed out that Vista Pacifico LNG
Infrastructure subsidiary, described Vista Pacif- would receive some of its feedstock via pipelines
ico LNG as “an exciting new Pacific opportunity.” under Sempra’s control.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 45 11•November•2021