Pemex Transformación Industrial (PTI), the processing arm of state-owned Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), is investigating the cause of two gas explosions that occurred on Dec. 10 at its 275,000-b/d Héctor R. Lara Sosa refining complex in Cadereyta Jiménez, Nuevo León, in northeastern Mexico.
The morning explosions—which stemmed from an accumulation of gas in the refinery and resulted in minor injuries to five contract workers at the site—were under control by 1:00 p.m. local time, the government of Nuevo León and Nuevo León Governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón said in a series of posts to their official Twitter accounts.
In a separate post to its official Twitter account, Pemex said the incident—identified by the operator as a “roar” in a section of the refinery’s storm drainage system—did not cause any major personal injuries or material damages at the site.
The refinery is continuing to operate normally, and an investigation into the root cause of the incident is under way, Pemex said without disclosing additional details.
Report of the December upset at Cadereyta follows the government of Mexico’s confirmation earlier in the year that work under the National Refining Plan’s previously announced rehabilitation program—which includes upgrades and modernization projects at all six of Pemex’s refineries—had reached 87% completion at the Cadereyta refinery (OGJ Online, Dec. 13, 2018; Sept. 9, 2014).
As of Aug. 27, 2020, the Cadereyta refinery had completed 21 of 24 scheduled repairs under the rehabilitation program in projects that were budgeted for 2.4 billion pesos in 2019 and 2.1 billion pesos in 2020, the national government said in a release.
Following completion of repairs planned for site during 2020—which were scheduled to run from August to October—the government said it expected crude processing at the Cadereyta refinery to increase to 160,000 b/d in November from 115,000 b/d in July 2020.
In a separate Aug. 27, 2020, release, Pemex said during 2020 it would rehabilitate 11 processing plants at Cadereyta—the only refinery in Mexico’s refining system whose entire gasoline and diesel production completely conforms to ultralow-sulfur standards—at a cost of 4.125 billion pesos, with major repair works to be completed at a total of 26 of the Cadereyta refinery’s plants by yearend 2023 as part of the national rehabilitation program—to which Mexico has allocated an overall budget of 22.905 billion pesos for all six refineries.
The government of Mexico and PTI also are progressing with development activities for the country’s previously announced 340,000-b/d grassroots refinery targeted for a July-2022 startup in the Port of Dos Bocas, Tabasco (OGJ Online, Oct. 19, 2020; OGJ, Dec. 2, 2019, p. 18).
