Pemex will take control of the Deer Park refinery in Texas today, after sealing with the Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell the purchase of its half of that plant, with a capacity to process 340,000 barrels per day (bpd), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. theme.
The oil company, hit by huge debts, and Shell announced in May 2021 the operation, for almost 600 million dollars, with which the Mexican will become the sole owner of the refinery, after an unsolicited offer.
“The protocol act will take place around noon on Thursday in Texas,” said one of the sources. The CEO of Pemex, Octavio Romero, is on site for the signing, in the company of other directors.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said in his morning press conference that he will give very good news on energy matters on Friday, but he did not give details. Neither the government nor Pemex have reported on the final signing on Thursday, which was announced by Reuters last week.
The sources said that the transaction was carried out as agreed: 596 million dollars for the value of the refinery’s assets -equivalent to 50% of Shell’s participation in the company’s debt- and the remaining liability for the 596 million dollars corresponding to 50% of Pemex’s participation.
The resources came from a state fund for infrastructure.
Neither Shell nor Pemex have revealed details regarding the number of volumes of refined products that Mexico will receive from the plant in Texas, nor how much crude it will be able to supply in the future.
The president has said that with control of Deer Park and the Olmeca refinery, better known as Dos Bocas, Mexico will be able to achieve energy self-sufficiency because it will stop importing fuels and exporting crude oil by 2024, without explaining how the country will offset those revenues from foreign sales.
Pemex’s six refineries in Mexico are processing around 700,000 bpd on average, well below their combined capacity of 1.5 million bpd.
