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 Editorials | Environmental | May 2005 
Pemex Oil Company Announces US$3 Billion Plan For Environmental Work
 Amy Guthrie - Associated Press
| | The company has identified 1,500 kilometers of pipeline, much of which is over 30 years-old, that need to be monitored more carefully. |
Mexico City – Mexico's state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said it expects to spend US$3 billion to fix environmental problems at its facilities, including some of the country's problem-plagued pipelines.
"We're not going to let more than six months go by after a problem has been detected for repairs on pipelines," Pemex chief executive Luis Ramirez said in a press conference.
Toward the end of 2004, and at the start of this year, Pemex suffered a series of accidents ranging from small leaks to explosions that drew attention to the poor state of much of its infrastructure.
Ramirez said the Mexican government has agreed to give the oil company an additional US$500 million this year for repairs, boosting Pemex's total 2005 budget to US$12 billion. As a state entity, Pemex hands over close to 60-percent of its revenue in taxes and royalties, and must appeal to Congress and the Finance Ministry for funds.
Some of the recent ruptures had been preceded by warnings as far back as 1995. With the company diverting extra funds to exploration and production in recent years rather than maintenance, however, many of these problems went unattended until disaster finally struck.
"We've been short on funds for 15 years," Ramirez said, adding that the company should be able to catch up on repairs by the end of 2008 if it continues to allot US$3 billion (euro$2.36 billion) a year to the effort.
The company has identified 1,500 kilometers of pipeline, much of which is over 30 years-old, that need to be monitored more carefully. Other high-risk operations have been shut down entirely.
For example, a pipeline traversing the Gulf state of Tabasco that carries 5,000 barrels a day of crude is expected to be closed for emergency repairs for at least the next 30 days, while a pipe carrying petrochemicals is expected to be out of commission during the same timeframe. |
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