Mexico says Dos Bocas to produce 295000 bpd of gasoline, diesel - Reuters

Mexico says Dos Bocas to produce 295,000 bpd of gasoline, diesel | Reuters

Mexico says Dos Bocas to produce 295,000 bpd of gasoline, diesel

Signage of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is pictured at the company's headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico July 26, 2023. REUTERS/Raquel Cunha Acquire Licensing Rights

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MEXICO CITY, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Mexico's Energy Minister Rocio Nahle on Monday gave lower production projections for the new Dos Bocas refinery than the president provided last week and said it would have an output of around 295,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline and diesel combined.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week that the refinery owned by state oil company Pemex was set to produce an average of 290,000 bpd of gasoline alone by the end of the year.

Initial production estimates for the refinery had been 170,000 bpd of gasoline and 120,000 bpd of ultra-low sulfur diesel.

The refinery is formally known as Olmeca but is more commonly referred to as Dos Bocas after the port where it is located.

"The Olmeca refinery... has a processing capacity of 340,000 barrels per day of crude," Nahle said on social media platform X, adding it will result in a production of 295,000 bpd of gasoline and diesel.

Lopez Obrador said last week that the refinery started production on Friday.

Experts and Pemex sources have expressed doubts that Pemex's seventh refinery would be producing 290,000 bpd of fuel by the end of the year.

The refinery has also been hit with cost overruns, as the price tag has roughly doubled from the $8.9 billion initially budgeted in 2020.

Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

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