MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday that international companies invited to bid on the construction of a new oil refinery did not meet requirements for cost and time, so the government will take on the project.
Energy Secretary Rocío Nahle will run the project along with the state-owned oil company, Pemex, López Obrador said. Construction of the $8 billion refinery in the port of Dos Bocas, Tabasco will begin June 2 and be completed in three years, he added.
Mexico had invited four companies to bid on the project. One decided not to make a bid and the other three said they could do it for $10 billion to $12 billion in four to six years.
“We are not going to do any project that we can’t finish during this six-year term,” López Obrador said, a refrain he has used for the administration’s other fast-tracked major projects, including the Mayan Train and a new airport for the capital.
Octavio Romero Oropeza, Pemex’s chief, said vlast year that Mexico consumed 1.2 million barrels of fuel per day, while Mexico’s production was only 360,000 barrels, leaving imports to make up the difference.
“We are going to produce in Mexico what we consume and we are to be self-sufficient in gasoline production,” López Obrador said.
The president said a new refinery is critical to Mexico regaining its energy independence.
Mexico has not built a new refinery in 40 years, but the president said certain parts of the project will still be put up for bidding by Mexican and foreign companies.