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Energy Minister: Pemex will proceed with refinery project despite criticism
MEXICO’S Energy Minister Rocio Nahle has dismissed critics of a plan backed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to build a large oil re nery in Tabasco State, saying that the pro- ject would de nitely move forward.
In a radio interview broadcast last week, Nahle called the Dos Bocas project “irrevoca- ble.” She also said that the Mexican government had no reason to withdraw its support for the national oil company (NOC) Pemex on this front.
“ egovernmentwillbuildit,”shedeclared. “Why would we backtrack on that? It is a via- ble project. It’s a necessary project. It’s a Pemex project.”
e energy minister was speaking shortly a er the Mexican president revealed that his administration intended to give Pemex a tax break in order to help cover the costs of building the plant. Lopez Obrador told reporters that the NOC would see its tax bills reduced by a total of 128bn pesos ($6.7bn) over the next three years.
He also indicated that this concession would be made independently of another tax break that will see Pemex’s obligations reduced by 30bn pesos ($1.57bn) in 2019. ese supports,
along with 111bn pesos ($5.81bn) in direct state funding (the equivalent of 12% of the compa- ny’s budget), will allow Pemex to free up funds for the re nery project, he said.
e NOC had originally planned to work with foreign contractors to build the Dos Bocas oil-processing plant and invited several major engineering and service rms – including Wor- ley Parsons and Jacobs Engineering Group, as well as Technip, KBR and Bechtel/Techint – to submit bids.
Butitrejectedalltheo ersitreceived,com- plaining that they were too high.
Pemex had estimated the cost of the scheme at $8bn and has been reluctant to commit to spend more. As a result, it has decided to con- struct the re nery on its own.
Lopez Obrador and his supporters claim that the Dos Bocas project will help strengthen Pemex’s precarious financial position. But environmental groups have criticised the gov- ernment’s plan, pointing out Pemex itself has determined that the plant is likely to have an adverse e ect on air quality in the region.
If built, the Dos Bocas re nery will have a design capacity of 340,000 barrels per day.™
VENEZUELA
Curacao, Venezuela discuss future operatorship of Isla refinery
CURACAO’S Prime Minister Eugene Rhugge- naath met with Venezuela’s Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo on July 22 to discuss the fate of the Isla oil re nery.
Venezuela’s national oil company (NOC) PdVSA is currently serving under contract as operator of the plant, which has a throughput capacity of 335,000 barrels per day (bpd). But its contract is due to expire at the end of this year, and Curacao’s government, which is the owner of the plant, has not pledged to renew it.
PdVSA is eager to retain control of the re n- ery, and Quevedo emphasised this point at a press brie ng on July 22. “We have no intention to leave,” he declared. When asked whether the NOC had made a formal request to retain the operatorship, he replied that PdVSA had “man- ifested publicly and in a formal manner our desire to continue operations.”
For its part, Curacao’s government was noncommittal. Rhuggenath’s office said in a
statement issued a er the meeting that he and Quevedo had “[spoken] about the startup of the re nery and the interest of PdVSA to remain as the operator a er 2019.”
It declined to comment further on the mat- ter, saying it would not identify the other com- panies that have o ered to take the reins at the Isla plant.
Inspectioneering.com
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