Reuters: UPDATE 1-Mexico’s Pemex says Minatitlan expansion ready end-Aug
Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:53pm EDT * Gasoline capacity will increase by 47,300 bpd * Opening of long-delayed project was postponed from March * Mexico aims to reduce gasoline imports By Adriana Barrera MEXICO CITY, June 20 (Reuters) – Mexico’s state oilmonopoly Pemex said the expansion of the Minatitlan refinerywill now be ready by the end of August, providing the firstfirm target for the completion of the long-delayed project. The project to increase capacity at 185,000 barrel-per-dayrefinery in the Gulf of Mexico state of Veracruz was originallysupposed to be finished in late March. But a document obtained by Reuters on Monday said it willnot start operations by the end of the summer, adding 47,300barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline production. Pemex [PEMEX.UL] had said in the past Minatitlan’s newfacilities would increase gasoline output by 57,000 bpd. Currently Mexico, a major oil producer, imports around 40percent of its gasoline because of a lack of in-countryrefining capacity. FACTBOX on Mexico refining ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The expansion plan, which began back in 2003, aimed tobring the refinery up to 350,000 bpd capacity. Parts of the renovated plant are already operating,producing an additional 34,000 barrels per day of diesel, thedocument said. In addition to the gas and diesel, Minatitlan will reducefuel oil output from 65,000 to 27,700 bpd. Pemex’s CEO said at a conference this month that Mexicoaims to reduce gasoline imports by 8 percent between 2012 and2016 Pemex. The company plans to build a new oil refinery in Tula,north of Mexico City but wants to avoid the setbacks seen atMinatitlan due to poor supervision by Pemex and the splittingof the expansion into multiple packages. Pemex has said it will carry out more detailed engineering work before starting construction at Tula. (Additional reporting and writing by Mica Rosenberg;editing bySofina Mirza-Reid)
