Mexican president Andres Lopez Obrador
Letter from Mexico: Amlo’s vanity project gets ever more expensive
Costs continue to spiral at a downstream development the utility of which was always questionable
The Olmeca refinery under construction at the port of Dos Bocas in Mexican president Andres Lopez Obrador’s home state of Tabasco is central to his ambitions to both assure energy sovereignty and, generally, restore state oil firm Pemex to what the leftist sees as its former glory. The flagship project will add 340,000bl/d to the nation’s current processing capacity of 1.6mn bl/d from Pemex’s other six refineries. But it is described by one local journalist as “the most opaque construction project” in Mexican history. And industry analysts and the general public alike have been frequently left in the dark regarding its progress and cost. The president insists the refinery will be ready in ti
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
