Page 14 - LatAmOil Week 42

LatAmOil MEXICO LatAmOil

Lopez Obrador told the press last week that the as well as flooding and other problems at the
NOC was on track to begin advanced construc- building site. Then in September of this year,
tion work in mid-2021 and would wrap up the US-based KBR, Pemex’s engineering, procure-
second phase of the project in May 2022. The ment and construction (EPC) contractor, pulled
company expects to commission the Dos Bocas out. Despite these setbacks, the NOC has said it
refinery in July 2022, he added. is determined to complete the scheme, which is
The president went on to say that the mod- anticipated to carry a price tag of about $8bn. ™
ernisation programme for Pemex’s six existing
refineries was due to be completed in 2023.
Once the Dos Bocas plant is finished and the
modernisation programme completed, he
noted, Mexico’s refining capacity will rise to
1.54mn bpd. At that point, he said, Pemex will
be able to turn out 1.4mn bpd of refined petro-
leum products, enough to ensure the country’s
energy independence.
The Dos Bocas refinery project has aroused
some controversy since it was unveiled in 2018.
President Lopez Obrador has said the plant will
help improve Pemex’s fortunes and reduce the
country’s reliance on imported fuel. But the
scheme has been plagued by cost overruns, The refinery is being built in Tabasco State (Photo: LopezObrador.org.mx)

US VIRGIN ISL ANDS
Limetree Bay refinery may

lose access to BP oil supplies

UK-BASED BP has reportedly threatened to Croix, in late September. At that time, sources
terminate its crude oil supply agreement with familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the
Limetree Bay Ventures, a company formed by firm was working to bring a 150,000 barrel per
EIG Global Energy Partners and ArcLight Cap- day (bpd) crude distillation unit back online.
ital Partners of the US to bring the Limetree Bay They said the refinery might be able to resume
refinery in the US Virgin Islands back on stream. gasoline production before the end of October
Sources familiar with the matter told Reu- and bring other units into service once it had
ters last week that BP had declared that it would stabilised operations at the CDU.
not deliver feedstock to the oil-processing plant Within the last month, though, Limetree
unless it resumed commercial operations by Bay Ventures has reportedly encountered chal-
December. The super-major has the right to lenges. One of Reuters’ sources said last week
take this step, as its agreement with Limetree that the company had not been able to reacti-
Bay Ventures makes provisions for cancellation vate the CDU yet. He did not elaborate, but he
in the event that the refinery does not meet cer- did note that the pace of renovation work had
tain production milestones on schedule. also been slowed by the discovery of corrosion
It is also in a position to take action quickly, as earlier this year.
it has already sent at least one cargo of crude oil
to the Virgin Islands with the intent of supplying
the plant. Reuters, citing its unnamed sources
and data from Refinitiv Eikon, said that at least
one tanker booked by BP had been moored out-
side the Limetree Bay refinery since August. In
the event of further delays, the UK-based com-
pany could opt to redirect the vessel rather than
pay demurrage fees.
No further details were available. When
contacted by Reuters, neither BP nor Limetree
Bay Ventures’ shareholders commented on the
matter.
Limetree Bay Ventures reportedly took a step
towards restarting the plant, located near St. The refinery is near St. Croix (Photo: Limetree Bay Ventures)

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 42 22•October•2020