The $12.5B Pemex Dos Bocas Refinery Just Got More Expensive

Petroleos Mexicanos’ beleaguered mega-refinery project in Dos Bocas is running at least $4.7 billion over budget with just months to go before its grand opening. 

Pemex, as the state-owned oil company is known, has budgeted $12.5 billion for the project through the end of 2022, and is expected to spend at least another $2 billion this year, according to company filings and a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. 

That raises the total project cost to $14.5 billion, sharply higher than the $9.8 billion estimated by Energy Minister Rocio Nahle in April.

The 340,000-barrel-a-day Dos Bocas plant -- the crown jewel of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s nationalist goal of energy independence -- has been beset with delays and ballooning costs since it was announced. 

Bloomberg reported in January that the project was running significantly over-budget and could fail to produce a single gallon of gasoline in 2022.

Pemex is expected to hold a board meeting to discuss the Dos Bocas project soon, according to the person.

A Pemex spokesperson and Finance Ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

--With assistance from Max de Haldevang.