Pemex to build new refinery in Dos Bocas, Tabasco

Mexico’s Minister of Energy Rocío Nahle announced the start of the procurement procedure for building a new refinery of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in Dos Bocas, Tabasco on March 18, the 81st anniversary of Mexican oil nationalization (expropiación petrolera).

The companies invited to participate in the process — which will be performed in the modality of restricted invitation, a selective tendering procedure — are the Bechtel-Techint consortium, the WorelyParsons-Jacobs consortium, Technip and KBR.

During her remarks made at Miguel Hidalgo Refinery in Tula de Allende, Hidalgo, Minister Nahle mentioned that the winning company will be the “project manager constructor” and will be in charge of the following activities: coordination of the project, early procurement of equipment, supervision of licensors, engineering, early procurement and construction works.

Although the guidelines of the procurement procedure are not yet public, Minister Nahle mentioned that a national content requirement of 50 percent has been established. She also emphasized that the construction of the refinery shall not exceed three years.

Some of the proposed facility’s characteristics are to include a processing capacity of 340,000 barrels per day, and using 22 API degrees of maya crude oil as raw material. It is estimated that the new refinery will have 17 plants, 93 storage tanks and spheres and high energy-efficient equipment.

Minister Nahle said that Pemex has complied with the requirements established in the applicable law to begin the construction of the refinery. She also highlighted that the project already has completed or obtained the following documents and surveys: social impact assessment, statement of regulatory knowledge, topographic survey, risk survey, environmental impact assessment and a front-end engineering (ingeniería básica extendida) study.

During the event, President López Obrador mentioned that, in addition to the construction of the new refinery, his government will devote resources to revamp the existing six Pemex refineries and produce crude oil in 20 new oil fields. Furthermore, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero said that four of the 20 new oil fields will be located onshore and 16 in shallow waters. These new oil fields will require the construction of 13 drilling rigs and 14 pipelines with a total length of 175 kilometers.

The timeline of the procurement procedure for the new refinery was not released; however, given the three-year term to conclude the project, a tight timeline to choose the winning company and start working should be expected.