Pemex Aims to Fix Cadereyta Refinery Coker This WeekSeptember 08, 2010, 11:06 PM EDT
By Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
(Updates with statement on processing plants in first and second paragraph.)
Sept. 8, 2010 (Bloomberg) — Petroleos Mexicanos, Latin America’s largest oil producer, said it will complete the repairs of its coker unit by Sept. 11 after an explosion at the Cadereyta refinery outside of Monterrey.
The condition of the hydrotreater plant affected by the accident is still being evaluated, the company said in an e- mailed statement. “The operational damage is very light,” said a company official who declined to be identified, citing internal policy.
One person died and 10 were injured, two seriously, in yesterday’s explosion at the refinery in northern Mexico. Cadereyta will cut capacity by 15,000 barrels a day to 200,000 barrels daily, the company said yesterday. The plant processed 104,063 barrels a day in July.
Gasoline prices traded in New York reached a five-day high yesterday on speculation the Pemex explosion would increase fuel exports from the Gulf Coast. Gasoline rose 1 percent to $1.9530 at 1:14 p.m. New York time.
Mexico imported 432,000 barrels a day of petroleum products from the U.S. in June, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
–With assistance from Barbara Powell in Dallas. Editors: John Viljoen, Clyde Russell.
To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos Manuel Rodriguez in Mexico City at carlosmr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net
