Pemex to Boost Fuel Output at Tula Refinery

Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said on Wednesday it will boost gasoline and diesel output by almost 70 percent at its Miguel Hidalgo refinery, part of a $4.25 billion upgrade the company expects to complete by the beginning of 2018.

The upgrade will add a coking plant and allow the refinery <C}RO7309413882>, located near the city of Tula in central Hidalgo state, to boost fuel output from 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 300,000 bpd, the company said in a post on its Twitter (TWTR) page.

It will allow Pemex's second-biggest refinery by crude processing capacity to also lower its output of less desirable fuel oil by 10 percent, the company added.

The company has said in the past that it plans similar coking plant upgrades at its Salina Cruz <C}RO7309414334> and Salamanca <C}RO7309413881> refineries.

Pemex said on Wednesday that it will also build a new $1.2 billion storage and distribution terminal next to the existing Tula refinery, which will allow Pemex to better exploit its total refining capacity.

The company had previously planned a new $10 billion refinery at the site, but earlier this year formally scrapped the plan.

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli, Reuters)