Mexico City — Mexico’s Pemex recorded its highest monthly volume of gasoline imports so far this year in April, according to company data.
The state-owned oil company imported 390,000 barrels of gasoline per day during the month, a 9% increase on March, and the highest volume since December 2021.
Year-on-year, the gasoline imports of the company headed by CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza rose by 30,200 barrels per day, or 8% in April.
Total fuel imports, including liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, diesel, fuel oil and naphtha, showed a monthly increase of 4.5% and an annual increase of 13.4%.
In terms of refining output, the company produced 302,682 barrels of gasoline per day, a monthly increase of 11% compared to March figures.
The government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is seeking to achieve self-sufficiency in gasoline and diesel production in a bid to staunch imports.
To achieve this, the current administration is rehabilitating Pemex’s six refineries and is building a new one in Tabasco state, in addition to having purchased the Deer Park refinery complex in Texas, from its partner in the project, Anglo-Dutch company Shell.
López Obrador and his team are facing record oil prices above $100 dollars per barrel, but oil surpluses have been used to subsidize fuel prices in view of the president’s pledge to keep prices lower, as inflation in Mexico climbed to 7.6% during April.
Pemex intends to end crude exports by 2023 and had set the goal of refining 1.5 million barrels per day, but has since revised that goal amid the favorable moment to trade Mexican crude on the international market.
Translated from the Spanish by Adam Critchley
