Activity in national Pemex refineries loses rhythm to October

After Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has accumulated an average volume of crude oil processing of 808,646 barrels per day between January and October, an increase of 14.5% is observed in this indicator compared to the same period last year, which is lower to the one that it had reported between 2020 and 2021, in which the year-on-year increase was 19.3%, according to the company’s own Oil Statistics.

In these indicators, it can be observed that the largest national refining center in the country, which is the Salina Cruz refinery, in Oaxaca, with an installed capacity of 330,000 barrels per day, even has a reduction of 3.5% per year in the average of the first 10 months of the year, which was 178,182 barrels per day, after the previous year it increased 44 percent. According to the Ministry of Energy, the reductions are due to the rehabilitations and changes of large equipment that are carried out.

It should be remembered that according to the latest update of the Pemex Business Plan released in December 2021, it would be reaching an average process of 1.2 million barrels in 2022, which is still 48% higher than what it has so far this year. year, since in the second quarter prices were observed above 104 dollars per barrel of the Mexican export mix, which forced the Ministry of Finance to obtain income through this activity, sending less crude to the Pemex system which in any case has had scheduled stoppages in equipment that is being changed, according to the Ministry of Energy.

Another refinery that also shows a year-on-year reduction in the average for the first 10 months of the year is Cadereyta, in Nuevo León, where an average of 115,798 barrels per day of crude were processed from January to October, a volume 5.4% lower than last year. , in which Pemex reported a year-on-year increase of 21% in the crude process of this refinery.

The refining center that supplies fuels for the region with the greatest demand, which is the center of the country: the Tula refinery, in Hidalgo, had an increase of 25% in its average volume of crude oil in the first 10 months of the year, in which reported 176,956 barrels per day, which was half the increase it had in the previous year, which was 49%, according to Pemex.

The other centers, such as Madero, in Tamaulipas, which had a process of 96,739 barrels per day, had an increase of 37% in contrast to the 21% year-on-year reduction in the crude process in the first 10 months of last year; Minatitlán, in Veracruz, with a daily process of 111,946 barrels per day, had an annual increase of 32%, compared to 6% the previous year, and Salamanca, with 129,000 barrels per day processed, had an increase of 26%, in contrast to 4% the previous year for the average from January to October.

Use of refineries

Thus, in the average of the first 10 months of the year, a use of 49.3% of the joint installed capacity of the six refineries was reported, which is 1,640 million barrels per day of crude oil processing. This, in contrast to the 43.6% of the previous year, in which this use increased by seven percentage points in annual terms, while in the comparison of this year the increase is six points. The refinery with the highest use of its capacity is Tula, which reported 56%, which increased 11 percentage points, although the previous year it had increased 15 points.

Finally, Pemex’s production of oil products was 827,333 barrels per day on average from January to October, which implied an annual increase of 15% compared to the same period last year, in which an increase of 20 had been reported. % in contrast to 2020.

karol.garcia@eleconomista.mx