OIL: Commercially Viable Fuel from Dos Bocas not Before Year End: Reuters

Pemex’s flagship Olmeca (Dos Bocas) refinery in Mexico is unlikely to produce any commercially viable motor fuels before the end of the year, according to Reuters sources.

• Progress had been exaggerated ahead of the June presidential election and previously stated targets are impossible to meet, the sources said. Pemex CEO Octavio Romero last week said the refinery would "work at full capacity next month."
• Work is still to be complete on parts of the refinery including the fluid catalytic cracking plant, the hydrodesulfurization plant and the coker plant, sources said. The complex challenge of linking them can take months. The most optimistic scenario would see the first of two production lines operational between October and November.
• The lack of progress pushes further reliance on imports, something Pemex had been aiming to decrease as part of Mexican President Amlo’s ambitions.
• Mexico would not follow through with crude oil export cuts but continue importing diesel and gasoline instead, sources said. Pemex previously ordered its trading arm to cancel 436kbpd crude exports in March and 330kbpd in April but later backtracked.