Warning signs for Pemex refinery deal

Political downstream agenda and company track record cause unease over Texas refinery purchase

The $596mn acquisition of Shell’s Texas Deer Park refinery by Mexican NOC Pemex is facing increased political hostility in the US after Republican Congressman Brian Babin filed a letter of complaint to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm calling on the deal to be annulled.  Babin expressed concerns with the firm’s lack of operational expertise and highlighted potential security risks associated with a foreign state-owned business holding strategic control of US assets. If finalised, Pemex would take a 100pc stake in the refinery, giving the company access to 340,000bl/d in downstream processing capacity. None of Pemex’s six existing Mexican refineries has the operational complexity of Deer