Dredging360.com

The Mexican government and state-owned oil company Pemex will oversee construction of a new $8 billion refinery after international companies bidding for the project could not meet the government’s time or budget requirements, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday.

Even before the announcement, the project had been criticized as not making financial sense for deeply indebted Pemex and concerns were voiced about the budget and timeframe being unrealistic.

Energy Secretary Rocío Nahle will run the project along with Pemex, López Obrador said. Construction of the refinery in the port of Dos Bocas, Tabasco will begin June 2 and be completed in three years, he added.

Mexico has not built a new refinery in 40 years, but the president said that certain parts of the project will still be put up for bidding by Mexican and foreign companies.

Yesterday, the Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, gave the ‘go-ahead’ for the land reclamation associated with the new PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos) refinery in Dos Bocas, Tabasco. Within 10 months, Van Oord will reclaim 12 million cubic metres of sand to create 600 hectares of new land.

PEMEX awarded the project with a contract value of approximately EUR 235 million to a consortium of Van Oord and Grupo Huerta Madre S.A.P.I. de C.V,’ says Mark Roelofs, one of Van Oord’s Dredging Directors. ‘We will deploy one of our largest cutter suction dredgers, type Athena, and a medium- size trailing suction hopper dredger for the land reclamation.’ The project also includes 400 hectares of dynamic compaction and 6 million cubic metres of dry earth movement.