Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 10 2023

LatAmOil MEXICO LatAmOil

Pemex seeks to overhaul ESG policy

as it hunts for additional financing

MEXICO’S national oil company (NOC) Pemex The company’s reputation has suffered since
is looking to overhaul its existing environmen- fires broke out at three of its domestic oil-refin-
tal, social and governance (ESG) policies as it ing facilities last month, resulting in five deaths
seeks financing from major international banks, and many more injuries. Last year, the compa-
including HSBC Holdings Plc, sources familiar ny’s frequency of accidents surged by 40%. This
with the matter told Bloomberg last week. increase occurred on the heels of an offshore
According to the sources, who spoke on con- explosion in 2021 that caused fire to erupt on
dition of anonymity, Pemex is expected to begin the surface of the southern Gulf of Mexico.
the rollout of new environmental and safety pro- Potential lenders have taken note of the
cedures in the second half of 2023. As of press company’s deficiencies on this front. “Though
time, the report could not be confirmed. the company is engaging on ESG and providing
As its debt load continues to soar, Pemex is disclosure on its earnings presentation, these
still in need of additional financing in the near trends and recent events are certainly concern-
term in order to stay afloat. The state-owned ing and weaken the credibility of any plan the
company had accrued no less than $107.7bn in company may disclose,” JPMorgan Chase & Co.
outstanding debt as of the end of 2022 and was analyst Alejandra Andrade observed. ™
on track to accumulate another $8bn this year,
Moody’s Investors Service explained in a note
on January 31.
Since 2019, Mexican authorities have pro-
vided Pemex with nearly $45bn worth of capital
injections, tax breaks and other types of finan-
cial assistance. While the government would
prefer that the company secure financing on its
own to pay its outstanding debts, it has stated
that it will step in to assist Pemex if necessary.
Before committing to the overhaul of its
ESG policy, Pemex had been consulting with an
array of banks in a bid to formulate a strategy for
managing its debt. Late last month, for example,
it struck a deal with JPMorgan and Goldman
Sachs Group for at least $1bn worth of collat-
eralised loans. The company is also reported to
be in talks with Goldman Sachs and HSBC on
a financing agreement linked to reductions in
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In the meantime, Pemex is facing no small
amount of controversy regarding its perfor-
mance on the environmental and safety front. Moody’s has estimated Pemex’s total debt load at $107.7bn (File Photo)

Mexico increases imports of

US-produced MTBE in 2022

MEXICO increased the amount of methyl According to data from Global Trade Tracker
tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive, (GTT) cited by Argus Media, Mexico took deliv-
imported from US producers last year, thereby ery of 1.1mn tonnes of US-produced MTBE in
increasing its reliance on its northern neighbour 2022, its highest yearly figure recorded since
for octane enhancement programmes. 2019.

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