President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Sunday that Mexico would tender out the building of a refinery near the Dos Bocas oil port by March, part of his government’s plan to try to reduce the country’s gasoline imports, Reuters reported.
In a presentation in Tabasco state, where the refinery is due to be built, the government said the new oil refinery would process 340,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The refinery, which will cost about $8 billion, should produce 170,000 bpd of fuel, including 120,000 bpd of diesel.
Afterward, Energy Minister Rocio Nahle said the government had not decided on the format for the contract for building the refinery. She added that the reduction in crude exports in order to refine in Mexico would be gradual. (Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney)