In Quest for Energy Independence, Mexico Is Buying a Texas Oil Refinery

DEER PARK, Texas — Two giant murals, on storage tanks at an oil refinery here, depict the rebels led by Sam Houston. They secured Texas’ independence from Mexico in the 1830s. This week those murals will become the property of the Mexican national oil company. This means acquiring full control of the refinery. Let’s talk more about energy independence below.

The refinery purchase is part of President Andres Manuel López Obrador’s own bid for the independence of sorts. This is an effort to achieve energy self-sufficiency. Now, the president of Mexico is investing heavily in state-owned oil companies. They are placing a renewed emphasis on petroleum production and retreating from renewable energy. This is even as some oil giants like BP and Royal Dutch Shell are investing more in that sector.

Mr. López Obrador aims to eliminate most Mexican oil exports over the next two years. Above all that, the country can process more of it domestically. He wants to replace the gasoline and diesel supplies the country currently buys from other refineries in the United States with fuel produced domestically or by the refinery in Deer Park, which would be made from crude oil it imports from Mexico. The shift would be an ambitious leap for Petroleos Mexicanos, the company commonly known as Pemex.

Firstly, the company’s oil production is comparable to Chevron’s in recent years. As a result, this has been falling for more than a decade. Basically, it shoulders more than $100 billion in debt, the largest of any oil company in the world.

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Source: The New York times

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