Pemex awards Fluor Hidalgo contract

MEXICO CITY, November 18, 2015 – Mexico’s Pemex has awarded Fluor a $1.1-billion engineering, procurement and construction services contract for the upgrade of its Hidalgo refinery in Tula. The upgrade will increase Pemex’s downstream competitiveness, as its monopoly in the country’s hydrocarbons industry ended last June.

Scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2018, the upgrade will increase the refinery’s output to 340,000 barrels per day from the current 315,000 barrels per day.

Mexico’s downstream sector is riddled with inefficient operations and loss, forcing the country to import high-value fuels from overseas. The Hidalgo refinery will produce higher-quality petrol and diesel. The refinery survived two fires earlier in the year.

Pemex postponed the upgrade due to a $4-billion budget cut in January. The company has now opted to continue with the refinery upgrade rather than allocate the funds to building a new plant.

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