Pemex confirms reports of oil spill at Olmeca refinery marine terminal

State lipid institution Pemex has reportedly repaired 2 pipeline leaks astatine its Dos Bocas maritime terminal, aft allowing 4 days to walk earlier publically acknowledging an lipid spill had occurred.

Pemex officials connected Wednesday yet confirmed media reports of the lipid spill, explaining successful a property merchandise that crude had leaked from an underwater tube linking 1 of its offshore platforms to Olmeca refinery successful the larboard of Dos Bocas, located successful the Gulf seashore authorities of Tabasco.

Playas públicas de #Paraíso, #Tabasco, cerradas por contaminación con hidrocarburo y chapopote en casi 17 km de costa, afectando pescadores y prestadores de servicios.

Pescadores señalan posible derrame cerca de boyas petroleras en puerto Dos Bocas.

El reporte de… pic.twitter.com/sNd6zmVRMk

— Fuerza Informativa Azteca (@AztecaNoticias) May 5, 2025

Local residents and fishermen reported that the lipid slick had caused extended harm to aquatic fauna successful the Gulf, arsenic good arsenic to mangroves successful the municipality of Paraíso, Tabasco. Beaches successful the country were blackened and La Jornada paper reported that respective oyster farms were contaminated.

In a property statement, Pemex said the leak occurred connected Saturday erstwhile pipes from its Akal-C level failed. Mapping by the lipid institution confirmed that spillage had damaged a 7-kilometer agelong of coastline.

Later Wednesday, Pemex said the leaks had been repaired by installing 2 metallic clamps. It was conducting tests to guarantee the watertightness of the pipeline. The institution said it expected to resume operations astatine Dos Bocas connected Thursday

Pemex said it had already begun addressing the spill. “Pemex unit and specialized instrumentality instantly carried retired a clean-up,” the institution said successful a property release. The institution besides notified the Safety, Energy and Environment Agency (ASEA) arsenic good arsenic the Environment Ministry successful bid to initiate remedial actions arsenic required by law.

The spilled lipid has made its mode from the Gulf into Mecoacán Lagoon and Seco River, affecting marine animals and mangroves. (Luis López/Cuartoscuro)

The Tabasco Environment Ministry besides filed a ailment with ASEA.

The institution said that it was moving with section communities to found preventative measures and to facilitate the resumption of sportfishing and tourism activities. Residents of Playita El Mirador, a tourer reserve and formation conscionable eastbound of Dos Bocas, complained that they were forced to cancel services during the vacation play owed to the lipid slick.

This lipid leak comes a small implicit a week aft an incidental temporarily halted operations astatine the Olmeca refinery, adjacent to the Dos Bocas terminal.

A impermanent enactment outage occurred astatine the refinery, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum to contradict that sabotage was involved.

Sheinbaum dismissed reporters’ inquiries astir the anticipation of intentional harm to the refinery’s catalytic cracking portion that uses fluidized catalysts to ace dense hydrocarbon molecules into gasoline molecules.

A fewer days later, Pemex blamed a outer connection nonaccomplishment for the outage.

Operations resume astatine Olmeca refinery aft mistake causes enactment outage

Pemex said that shutdown did not enactment staff, adjacent communities, the refinery oregon the situation astatine risk.

The arguable Dos Bocas analyzable was begun successful 2019 by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador with an estimated outgo of US $8 billion. By August 2021, the authorities admitted operation was apt to outgo US $20 cardinal and past period Pemex confirmed successful a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that operation had outgo astir US $21 billion.

Although it nominally began operations successful 2022, the Olmeca refinery remains successful the start-up phase, investigating and commissioning up of afloat commercialized operation. It has yet to conscionable the accumulation goals acceptable by Sheinbaum’s predecessor, adjacent arsenic Sheinbaum said past period that it was processing 100,000 barrels per day.

Actually, the refinery, which claims a capableness to process 340,000 bpd, processed conscionable 6,797 bpd successful February aft processing thing successful January owed to elevated brackish and h2o contented successful the crude lipid supplied by Pemex.

With reports from La Jornada, Uno TV, Riviera Maya News and Bloomberg News