LatAmOil: Nahle offers reassurances on Dos Bocas refinery

Mexican Energy Minister Rocio Nahle has responded indignantly to reports that the national oil company (NOC) Pemex is running over budget and behind schedule on the construction of the Dos Bocas refinery in Tabasco State.

On January 22, Nahle said in a Twitter post that the refinery project was not experiencing any setbacks. “Dos Bocas is being built in record time. Opinions around the world are very positive,” she wrote. She said those who had criticised the scheme were not properly informed about the state of work on the oil-processing plant.

The minister took to Twitter after Bloomberg published an article saying that sources familiar with the situation were doubtful that the plant would be able to begin operating on schedule this year. The news agency’s sources said that the cost of building the plant appeared to have climbed to around $12.5bn, or about 40% above the previously cited figure of around $8.9bn.