Friday, March 29

Pemex refinery output to be lowered while refineries upgraded, president says


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MEXICO CITY — Mexico will reduce refining output at state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) while it modernizes its oil refineries, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday.

Lopez Obrador was asked at a news conference whether Mexico would export more crude oil than Pemex had previously planned this year due to the high prices the commodity is fetching on international markets.

Without answering the question directly, he said his government was capitalizing on the high oil prices to pursue an “emerging plan” that included repairing the refineries.

“We’re taking advantage of the fact that the price is high to put more time and resources into rehabilitating the (refineries),” he said. “(Output) will come down from around 1 million barrels a day processed in the refineries to 850,000.”

Earlier this month, officials told Reuters that Mexico’s oil exports would remain close to 1 million barrels per day for much of the year, despite plans announced by Pemex to slash them to less than half that so it could refine more crude. (Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez Editing by Alistair Bell)



financialpost.com