MEXICO CITY/HOUSTON (Reuters) – Mexico’s national oil company said in a statement late on Friday that Pemex’s Deer Park oil refinery near Houston would operate over the weekend at a reduced level after a deadly chemical leak two days earlier.
The state-owned oil company said it was continuing to investigate the cause of a hydrogen sulfide gas leak on Thursday that killed two contract workers and injured 35 others while working in a unit at the 312,500 barrels per day refinery.
Work was underway on the sulfur extraction unit at the time, according to people familiar with the matter.
Pemex management has operated the facility for nearly three years.
The facility is a major supplier of motor fuel to Mexico, where the ruling party has sought to reduce reliance on gasoline and diesel imports from non-Pemex refineries in a bid to achieve greater energy self-sufficiency.
Pemex CEO Victor Rodriguez said on Friday that 13 workers remained hospitalized after being exposed to the leak, while Mexico’s energy minister said she expected the facility to return to normal operations later on Friday.
But the company backed away from this expectation in its latest statement.
“The refinery continues to operate in stable conditions at a low level, a level that will be maintained over the weekend as long as the areas are accessible to carry out corresponding inspections,” the company said in its statement on Friday. Night statement.
Rodriguez, who took office earlier this month, noted on Friday that three or four units at the refinery had been closed following the incident.
The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, which investigates industrial accidents and makes recommendations to prevent future accidents, has also launched an investigation into what it described as a “very serious accident.”
Oil major Shell had run Deer Park for decades, but Pemex took full ownership of the refinery in early 2022, taking Shell’s 50% stake in a long-term joint venture.
In 2021, Shell revealed that it had sold its stake in Deer Park to Pemex for about $596 million.
Pemex’s domestic refineries have suffered for years from a series of accidents, including explosions and fires, that have caused deaths in Mexico.
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