Trade
Mexico’s $20 Billion Refinery Flops as Trump Threatens Oil Tariffs
President Sheinbaum is under pressure to reduce Mexican reliance on US fuel
The Petroleos Mexicanos Dos Bocas Olmeca refinery in Mexico, one of the most costly projects of the Lopez Obrador administration.
Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
At a packed press conference in the muggy port town of Dos Bocas, Mexico’s energy minister unveiled a bold plan to fast-track construction of the country’s largest oil refinery to date, a flagship project under the government of then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Rocio Nahle told the reporters gathered in 2019 that borrowing designs from a previously scrapped refinery venture would save taxpayers a fortune, keep the facility within its $8 billion budget and have it up and running in just three years.