Incidents In 1979, Pemex's Ixtoc 1 exploratory oil well in the
Bay of Campeche suffered a blowout resulting in
one of the largest oil spills in history. Pemex spent $100 million to clean up the spill and avoided most compensation claims by asserting
sovereign immunity as a state-run company. On
November 19, 1984, a series of
BLEVE's at a Pemex LPG storage facility occur in the heavily populated outskirts of
San Juan Ixhuatepec, near
Mexico City, resulting in the deaths of around 500-600 residents and up to 7000 injured by the explosions, ensuing fire and shrapnel from exploding tanks. It is considered among the deadliest industrial accidents in world history. Pemex was blamed for
a series of 1992 gas explosions in Guadalajara. On September 19, 2012, an explosion at the Pemex gas plant in
Reynosa,
Tamaulipas killed 30 and injured 46 people. Pemex Director Juan Jose Suarez said that there was "no evidence that it was a deliberate incident, or some kind of attack". On January 31, 2013,
an explosion occurred at the administrative offices of Pemex in
Mexico City. At least 37 people were killed and at least 126 were injured. The cause has not been confirmed. Local media reported that machinery exploded in the basement of an administrative center next door to the 52-story
Pemex tower. On April 1, 2015, a fire occurred on platform Abkatun A in the southern Gulf of Mexico which killed 4 workers. On April 20, 2016, a large explosion and fire at the company's Chlorinate 3 plant in
Coatzacoalcos killed at least 28 people. On September 24, 2016, a fire broke out on the oil tanker "Burgos", off the coast of
Boca del Río, Veracruz, forcing all the crew (31 members) to be evacuated safely. The tanker was carrying 80,000 barrels of diesel and 70,000 barrels of gasoline. On January 18, 2019,
an explosion occurred on a pipeline passing through the village of
Tlauhuelilpan, Hidalgo killing at least 137 people. Several hundred people were gathering around an illegal pipe drain in order to get fuel. Images of the event shows people collecting fuel with buckets and small containers from a waterfall of gasoline. Military and police forces were present during the event for several hours before the explosion but were unable to stop the people from stealing fuel. The pipeline was not closed on time even after the fuel drain was reported. On July 2, 2021, a natural gas pipeline owned by Pemex burst in the
Gulf of Mexico. The natural gas was then ignited, causing a "fireball" to appear on the water's surface. The blaze was extinguished with
nitrogen after approximately five hours. With two explosions at offshore platforms during the summer of 2021, Pemex's security and maintenance procedures are being questioned. On August 24, 2021, an oil rig fire killed five workers. On July 7, 2023, an explosion followed by a fire on the Nohoch Alfa oil platform offshore
Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident was classified as "serious". There were 180 workers on the platform. Two people were killed, another was missing, several were injured. The platform personnel have been evacuated. On April 6, 2024, an explosion followed by a fire on the Akal Bravo oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident was classified as "serious". There were 28 workers on the platform. There was one person killed and at least 13 others were injured
Controversies In 2009, the U.S. Justice Department reported that some U.S. refineries had bought millions of dollars' worth of oil stolen from Mexican government pipelines. Criminals, especially drug gangs, tap remote pipelines and sometimes build their own pipelines to siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of oil each year. One oil executive has been charged and has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. The U.S. Homeland Security Department will return $2.4 million to Mexico's tax administration—the first money seized during a binational investigation into smuggled oil that authorities expect to lead to more arrests and seizures. In 2010 the former president of
Houston-based Trammo Petroleum was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen goods. Pemex has a long history of alleged violation of human and labour rights regarding engineers, unrightfully considered to be "trusted workers" who have tried to unionize since 1995 and succeeded, after several repression episodes, in doing so in 2008 and 2009, although at a high human cost. This included the death of a person who was refused medical service at one of Pemex's hospitals because his son had just been sacked for belonging to this union, the Unión Nacional de Técnicos y Profesionistas (shorthand UNTyPP). It also included forcing union members to resign from the Union from their hospital beds, as happened to three cancer patients in 2009. Up to date and in spite of pressure by the Mexican Congress, the International Labour Organization, the Global Compact, the Industrial Global Union and thousands of citizens all over the world, workers fired in 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 have not been all reinstated nor has there been any other reparation. Pemex has denied these accusations. On November 10, 2019, the institution suffered a cyber attack and its computers were infected with DoppelPaymer
ransomware. In November 2021, the arrest of former CEO Carlos Trevino was ordered after he did not show for his hearing, in which he was being charged with criminal association and money laundering. Testimony was presented by other ex-CEO,
Emilio Lozoya, who was initially placed in witness protection. In January 2022, Lozoya was formally charged with money laundering, bribery and criminal association, which could amount to 39 years in prison.
Corruption There have been various allegations of corruption in Pemex for over a decade. These range from political contributions to the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) (over $200 million), "no show" jobs – individuals who receive a salary while performing no duties – various forms of fraud, embezzlement and even under-the-table fuel sales. It has been estimated these various forms of corruption contribute to the loss of over $1 billion a year.
Odebrecht is a Brazilian conglomerate that like Pemex also operates in the field of petroleum. Back in 2010–2012,
Emilio Lozoya Austin was part of the PRI's team supporting
Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN) in his presidential campaign. After EPN won the elections, Lozoya was promoted to director of Pemex, a role in which he served for most of EPN's presidency. In 2017, Brazilian newspaper
O Globo claimed that Odebrecht helped finance EPN's presidential campaign, by giving $10 million to Emilio Lozoya as a bribe during times close to the 2012 elections. Soon after EPN won the elections in 2012, Lozoya became a director of Pemex and Odebrecht "won" huge contracts from Pemex and the Mexican government. The news of the controversy surfaced in 2017, revealing Lozoya bought a $38 million house with a single payment even before he was named a director of Pemex. Such a house did not fit with his salary at the time. In October 2017, it was confirmed by the presidency that EPN himself also met with Odebrecht four times during his presidential campaign. This directly tied EPN into the scandal, albeit EPN claimed not to have received any bribes. A document from Brazil reported Lozoya received $5 million in November 2014. Santiago Nieto, in charge of the (FEPADE), an office in charge of investigating electoral crimes, was controversially fired soon after the Odebrecht scandal began. He was said to be receiving too much pressure from EPN and Lozoya to stop the investigation. The firing was criticized by ex-president Felipe Calderon's wife and independent 2018 presidential candidate
Margarita Zavala. President Peña Nieto said Santiago's restitution fate depended on the Mexican Senate. The organization Borde Politico had published weeks before that 116 out of the 128 Mexican senators were incompetent. ==See also==