Mexico president says Pemex refineries expected to increase processing

Experts have said production, expected to reach up to 340,000 barrels per day, will likely not kick off until 2024, following construction delays and an expected lengthy launch process. "It is a huge, monumental thing ... "The construction part, without a doubt, will end this year ...

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Wednesday the country expected crude processing in six state-run Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) refineries to increase to 1.2 million barrels per day, up from the current level of 840,000 barrels per day.

Lopez Obrador said in a regular news conference that the Olmeca refinery along the coast of Tabasco, set to open July 2, will go through a "trial period" of several months before beginning production in 2023. Experts have said production, expected to reach up to 340,000 barrels per day, will likely not kick off until 2024, following construction delays and an expected lengthy launch process.

"It is a huge, monumental thing ... everything must be harmonized to obtain the fuel. It will take time," Lopez Obrador said of the refinery, known as Dos Bocas. "The construction part, without a doubt, will end this year ... but it will not take two years (to be operative)."

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