PEMEX CEO Meets With Energy and Infrastructure Commissions
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PEMEX CEO Meets With Energy and Infrastructure Commissions

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Perla Velasco By Perla Velasco | Journalist & Industry Analyst - Wed, 10/26/2022 - 11:28

This Monday, PEMEX CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza presented his analysis of the Fourth Government Report in front of the United Commissions of Energy and Infrastructure at the Chamber of Deputies. The hearing addressed PEMEX’s debt, fuel prices, production and energy sovereignty, among other questions from Deputies.

The session started with the questioning of 2018’s presidential campaign promise to “maintain gasoline prices at MX$10/l (US$0.5/l).” PRD Deputy Mauricio Prieto Gómez presented a video of president López Obrador stating that MORENA could maintain gasoline prices to at least the same as the US. Prieto also argued that the current gasoline subsidies the government provides were possible because the price per barrel was budgeted at US$55/b, though oil prices skyrocketed to US$110/b to the benefit of PEMEX. Romero explained that the government has kept its promise to maintain gasoline prices below inflation levels and that its price is below US prices.

Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) Deputy Manuel Jesús Herrera Vega stated that the state “prioritizes” PEMEX by giving it ample resources from the government budget. He also addressed the increase in the production of fuel oil, the exploitation of fossil fuels and the uncertainty the government created regarding private investment. Juan Carlos Maturino Manzanera, Deputy, PAN, also commented that PEMEX has received 75 percent more resources than what was approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

Despite the NOC’s intentions to drop its production of polluting fuel oil, the company reported that in August 2022 the resource represented 33 percent of its refined products. The company has been trying to clean up its emissions, too, responding to outside pressure from deputies and investors. This June, president López Obrador announced PEMEX’s commitment to reduce its emissions by 98 percent with an investment of US$2 billion to reduce upstream methane emissions. Just last week the NOC, published a tender to request an opinion service to reduce its emissions. On the international landscape, PEMEX faces another challenge with the possibility of a USMCA Energy Dispute Panel regarding energy policy in Mexico.

The NOC reported that its debt decreased this year. According to its CEO, PEMEX’s debt is estimated at US$100.43 billion by the end of 2022.

Romero Oropeza later explained that PEMEX does not receive resources from the federal budget. Instead, it gets its budget approved by the government while it uses its resources. He defended 2023’s projections to produce 340Mb/d of fuel, of which 270Mb/d of gasoline from Dos Bocas as a strategy to reduce fuel imports. He also highlighted the construction of two coker units in Tula and Salina Cruz toward this objective. A day before the meeting, an oil spill in Salina Cruz was reported. This is the second spill in Salina Cruz in October and the fifth this year, but the issue was not addressed during the hearing.

Photo by:   Twitter @Pemex

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