PEMEX Nears Completion of Tula Refinery's Coking Plant

PEMEX is finalizing the details to begin operations at the Tula coking plant, with the goal of completing it by the end of December 2023, as reported by Roberto Andrés Mezquita Macías, Manager, Miguel Hidalgo refinery. 

The construction of the Tula coking plant resumed in March 2022, after being halted for approximately six years. According to estimates from the state-owned company, once operational, the refinery is expected to produce more than 75Mb/d of gasoline and diesel.

Jorge Luis Basaldúa, CEO, PEMEX Transformación Industrial (TRI), explained that more than US$3 billion were invested in its construction, with the aim of reducing fuel oil production.

However, the Federal Auditor's Office (ASF) recently uncovered financial irregularities in the project, indicating a need to clarify MX$62.44 million (US$3.5 million) related to the maintenance and utilization of residuals at the Tula refinery. Audit number 231, which focuses on the adherence to physical investments during the 2019-2023 period concerning maintenance and waste utilization at the Tula Refinery in Hidalgo, highlights three instances of irregular payments.

While acknowledging that PEMEX TRI generally complied with relevant legal and regulatory provisions, ASF identified three specific issues. These include three excess payments, the absence of formal documentation for the extinction of rights and obligations, and the termination of contract DCPA-OP-SILN-SPR-CPMAC-A-1-14. The latter formalized temporary suspensions leading to non-recoverable expenses amounting to MX$546,532.6. PEMEX is urged to investigate or initiate proceedings against individuals responsible for failing to formalize an act of extinction of rights and obligations related to a contract, consequently resulting in non-recoverable expenses.

During a visit to supervise the plant's progress, Octavio Romero Oropeza, CEO, PEMEX, emphasized that one of the goals of this administration is to achieve fuel self-sufficiency. To achieve this, the six refineries in Mexico have been rehabilitated, Deer Park has been acquired, and work is in progress to start operations at the Olmeca refinery, along with the construction of two coking plants in Tula and Salina Cruz.

Regarding the coking plant at the Salina Cruz refinery in Oaxaca, it is expected to be completed in September of next year. This represents an investment of MX$60 billion and will begin production at the end of next year.