Data shows that Mexico's Olmeca refinery was operating at 17 percent of its capacity in November.

Mexican state energy company Pemex resumed refining operations at is new Olmeca refinery in November, working at nearly 17% of its 340,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) capacity after being fully offline in October, official numbers showed this week.

The refinery in Dos Bocas is still far below government targets, and hinders the plans to become self-sufficient in motor gasoline.

The company released numbers late Tuesday showing that it processed 59.466 bpd crude oil in November. The month's production consisted of 7,038 bpd diesel, 1,582bpd gasoline, and 5,742bpd petroleum coal.

Pemex's six refineries in Mexico combined to produce 751,797 barrels per day (bpd) that month. This was the second-lowest monthly production, and they were operating at only 39% of total capacity.

The refinery will be inaugurated in July 2022 at a cost of close to $17 billion. This is more than twice the initial budget for the infrastructure project initiated by former President Andres Lopez Obrador. It hasn't worked fully yet.

Although the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed recently that the refinery is still being tested, it has repeated its promises that this venture will bring the country closer towards self-sufficiency.

Sheinbaum, just like her political mentor and predecessor Lopez Obrador seeks to achieve "energy sovereignty", which would stop the importation of motor fuels. However, official statistics show that this goal has not been achieved. (Reporting Ana Isabel Martinez, Writing Stefanie Eschenbacher, Editing Mark Porter)

(source: Reuters)