Energy Minister Luz Elena González said the new Olmeca refinery in the state of Tabasco produced 270,000 barrels of gasoline per day last month, making it the most productive refinery in the country.

If that still unofficial October figure is borne out when Pemex releases official results for October, it would mark the second straight strong month for Olmeca, more commonly known as Dos Bocas, after a slump in July and August. 

Pemex’s official September data indicated that Olmeca processed just under 195,000 barrels of crude oil per day that month, an 87.5% increase over August, and 20,000 barrels more than its top production level set in June, but still second in production to the Miguel Hidalgo refinery in Tula in the state of Hidalgo. 

Speaking to Congress as part of the government’s annual State of the Nation hearings last week, González defended the controversial refinery as “a strategic and beneficial investment for the country.”

Striking a positive chord, González echoed the Oct. 24 testimony delivered by Víctor Rodríguez, director of state oil company Pemex, insisting that the Olmeca refinery is fully operational and will continue to increase production.

This prediction is good news for Pemex after the US $20 billion refinery finally started processing crude oil last year, two years after it had been formally inaugurated by then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

González told lawmakers that the Olmeca refinery processed more than 270,000 barrels of gasoline per day in October. Though she provided no official figures, González said Dos Bocas surpassed the Tula Hidalgo refinery as Mexico’s most productive. 

The nation’s seven refineries processed a total of 949,800 barrels of crude oil per day in September, in the following proportions: Tula Hidalgo, 26.1%; Dos Bocas, 20.5%; Salina Cruz (Oaxaca), 15.2%; Cadereyta (Nuevo León), 10.3%; Cd. Madero (Tamaulipas), 9.6%; Minatitlán (Veracruz), 9.6%; Salamanca (Guanajuato), 8.5%.

Dos Bocas and Tula were the only refineries operating above 50% of their capacity. While the refinery in Tula was operating at 78.8% capacity in September, Dos Bocas — designed to refine 340,000 barrels per day — is processing just over 57% of this capacity.

For his part, Rodríguez said Pemex expects to soon increase the refining capacity of Dos Bocas to a maximum of 320,000 barrels per day.

With reports from La Jornada and El Financiero