Fire hits refinery of Mexican state oil firm Pemex, second since March

Mexican state oil firm Pemex said it put out on Thursday a fire at its Dos Bocas refinery in southern Mexico, with no injuries reported in the second such blaze within less than a month.

It did not detail the damage or a possible cause of the fire in a warehouse at the site, also known as the Olmeca refinery, one of Mexico's largest, where 150 emergency specialists helped to tackle the flames.

"The director of Pemex and the manager of the Olmeca refinery have informed me the fire is confined solely to a coke storage area and is under control," President Claudia Sheinbaum said on social media.

Navy and defense ministry personnel helped Pemex workers fight the blaze, she added.

Images on social media showed billowing black smoke and a large fireball at the refinery in the Gulf port of Dos Bocas, but Reuters was unable to immediately verify the images.

Pemex said its director, Victor Rodriguez, would visit the site to supervise recovery efforts.

Thursday's incident followed a March 17 fire that killed five people after "oily waters" burst into flame around the refinery's perimeter.

The refinery, which cost $21 billion to build, more than double its original budget, was a flagship project of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador intended to help reduce Mexico's dependence on fuel imports.

However, it has a history of problems since operations began in 2024, and has missed the production targets promised at its 2022 inauguration.

In January, the refinery produced 205,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, 77,520 bpd of gasoline and 78,500 bpd of diesel.

Its maximum processing capacity is 340,000 bpd, which the Lopez Obrador administration said would be sufficient to ensure "energy sovereignty."

-Iñigo Alexander/Reuters