Mexico's Petroleos Mexicanos has reopened bidding for revamps of two of its refineries, at Tula, Hidalgo, and Salamanca, Guanajuato.
On Mar. 10, Pemex voided the original bidding round for the upgrade projects, citing a lack of competitive offers (OGJ, Mar. 15, 1999, Newsletter). According to Pemex officials, no significant changes were made in the terms of the work contract for this new round, but more time was seen as necessary to allow more companies to participate in the bidding.
The deadline to present proposals for the Salamanca upgrade is July 29, and the final decision will be announced on Aug. 23. The work on the refinery is to begin in December 1999 and is to be completed 2 years later.
Bids for the Tula refinery must be turned in by July 28, and the winner is to be announced on August 23. The Tula job also is to start in December 1999 and will take 2 years to complete.
Interested companies must have completed at least two similar projects worth $150 million each and must have at least 15 years experience in the field. The winner must organize all the financing to complete the upgrades themselves. The financing costs for the work will be borne by Pemex.
Other projects
On Feb. 15, Pemex awarded a contract for a similar upgrade to its Madero refinery to a consortium of South Korea's Sunkyong Engineering & Construction, Germany's Siemens AG, and Mexico's Grupo Tribasa (OGJ, Feb. 22, 1999, p. 30).The same consortium is currently upgrading the Cadereyta refinery.
Pemex is to decide in June on whether to go ahead with planned upgrades for the Salina Cruz and Minatitl n refineries.
The refinery upgrades are part of a long-term Pemex goal of boosting the country's facilities to process heavy Maya crude by an additional 460,000 b/d and to produce more unleaded premium gasoline.
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