If many of the press reports about the tragic events that led to the death of 29 Pemex workers in Reynosa (Tamaulipas) are to be believed, the problem was an explosion in a Pemex oil refinery. There is just one small “detail” in these statements: there is no Pemex oil refinery in or near Reynosa!
The accident occurred during maintenance at a gas pipeline distribution center, which is a very different industrial installation to an oil refinery.
For the record, Pemex currently has six oil refineries in Mexico, shown on the map below, and listed here by their 2007 production in barrels/day (b/d):
- Tula Refinery, Hidalgo (289,000 b/d)
- Salina Cruz Refinery, Oaxaca (272,000 b/d)
- Cadereyta Refinery, Nuevo León (217,000 b/d)
- Salamanca Refinery, Guanajuato (188,000 b/d)
- Minatitlan Refinery, Veracruz (170,000 b/d)
- Ciudad Madero Refinery, Tamaulipas (141,000 b/d)
Pemex installations in Mexico (adapted from Fig 15.5 of Geo-Mexico). All rights reserved.
The six Pemex refineries produce liquid gas, gasoline, diesel, kerosene and other fuels. The state oil giant is expanding its refining capacity by building a second oil refinery, Refinería Bicentenario, in Tula (Hidalgo). Expected to cost around 10 billion dollars in total, it will have the capacity to process 300,000 barrels of crude a day and is expected to be operational sometime in 2016.
Related posts:
- Mexico’s Pemex: the government cash cow that environmentalists love to hate
- How much longer will Mexico be an exporter of oil?
- Why does Mexico, an oil producer, need to import refined petroleum products?
- Gulf of Mexico energy reserves: updates in Mexico’s oil and gas sector
- Mexico and USA sign agreement for development of Gulf of Mexico oil reserves
- How long will Mexico’s oil reserves last?
- Unusual hazard: gasoline pours out of storm drains in Poza Rica, Veracruz
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