Dos Bocas begins formal operation at 50% of its capacity

Alonso Urrutia

Sent

The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, August 4, 2024, p. 4

Dos Bocas, Tab., With an initial production of 170 thousand barrels per day – 50 percent of its capacity – the Olmeca Refinery formally began operations this Saturday, said Pemex General Director Octavio Romero Oropeza.

He stressed that when fully operational it will have the capacity to process 340 thousand barrels per day, and starting on the 21st it will produce 175 thousand barrels of ultra-sulfur gasoline and 130 thousand of ultra-sulfur diesel daily, for a total of 305 thousand.

Before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his future successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, he reported that the total investment in the work was 16,816 million dollars and was completed in five years, a record time compared to other similar constructions. He said that in Kuwait, a refinery with a production capacity of 600 thousand barrels per day cost 35,154 million dollars, in 11 years, and one in China, with a capacity of 400 thousand barrels, cost 29,517 million dollars, and was completed in six years.

In his balance sheet, Romero Oropeza highlighted that the complex that Pemex bought in Deer Park, Texas, in 2022, has reported profits of 1,714 million dollars. Discounting the cost of the operation, which was 600 million dollars, the net profit is 1,114 million dollars, he indicated.

The official emphasized a key fact in the strategic objectives of this government: achieving energy self-sufficiency. The previous administration ended with a fuel import level of 927 thousand barrels per day, he recalled.

In contrast, he said, the current administration will end with an import of 52 thousand barrels per day, and with the start of operations of the Salina Cruz coking plant, in the first quarter of 2025, this will be reduced to 20 thousand barrels, 2 percent of what was imported in 2018.

He also reported that oil extraction increased from 1,642,000 barrels per day in 2018 to 1,852,000 at the end of this administration. In his speech, the director made a brief summary of Pemex’s management, and addressing López Obrador he said: mission accomplished.

He reported that at the end of this administration, 13 oil fields with potential for future exploitation have been confirmed, which will begin to be developed starting next year.

Romero Oropeza summarized the significance of Dos Bocas: a port where 800 thousand barrels of crude oil are received daily, so with the opening of operations of the refinery, production costs will be reduced due to access to the docks. In addition, it will allow Pemex to expand its operating capacity to supply fuels in the south-southeast and Veracruz.

The Olmeca Refinery has 17 processing plants and one for electrical and steam cogeneration; 58 tanks and 38 storage spheres, with a capacity of around 8 million barrels.he explained.

He made comparisons of the magnitude of the work: 2 million 672 thousand cubic meters of concrete were used, enough to build the equivalent of 63 soccer fields the size of the Azteca in Mexico City; 405 thousand tons of steel, enough to raise 40 towers the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris; 3 thousand 270 kilometers of pipe, equal to the distance between Merida and Tijuana.

He highlighted that the construction generated 44 thousand direct jobs and 286 thousand indirect jobs, with the participation of 160 supplier companies.