The Olmeca Refinery in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco had its best-ever month for fuel production in July, according to data from the state oil company Pemex.
The refinery, built on the Tabasco coast during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency, produced an average of 252,498 barrels of fuel per day in July.
That figure — which includes premium and regular gasoline as well as diesel, among other fuels — represented a 78.8% increase compared to June and an annual gain of 62.4%. Production of regular and premium gasoline rose even more sharply at the Olmeca Refinery in July, increasing 127.9% on a month-over-month basis and 89.5% annually to reach an average of 108,548 barrels per day (bpd).
The sharp increases in production in July came after refinery equipment was restored and upgraded between April and June. A number of fires have occurred at the US $21 billion facility, including in March, April and July of this year.
Output from the Olmeca Refinery in July exceeded 200,000 bpd across an entire month for just the third time. López Obrador inaugurated the refinery, located at the Dos Bocas port, in July 2022, even though it was unfinished and not refining crude at the time.
The facility is one of seven refineries operated by Pemex in Mexico. The Salina Cruz Refinery had the highest output in July, followed by Olmeca, which contributed 21.2% of Pemex’s total production of 1.19 million bpd of fuel in July.
Olmeca had its second-best month for crude processing in July
Pemex data also shows that the Olmeca Refinery processed an average of just under 229,000 barrels of heavy Maya crude per day in July. That figure represented a 62.2% month-over-month increase and a 53.9% year-over-year gain. The only month when the Olmeca Refinery processed a larger quantity of crude was last December. Before July, its processing volumes declined on a sequential basis during six consecutive months.
The Olmeca Refinery only refines heavy “Maya” crude, whereas other Pemex facilities also process light and super light crude. In July, it was Pemex’s second-largest refiner after the Salina Cruz Refinery, which processed an average of 246,838 barrels of crude per day. Pemex’s seven refineries in Mexico collectively processed an average of 1.22 million bpd of crude in July.
At full capacity, the Olmeca Refinery can process 340,000 bpd of crude. The processing volume it achieved in July represented 67.3% of that capacity.
With reports from La Jornada, Imagen Radio, El CEO and El Financiero
