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The state-owned oil company Pemex and the Mexican Energy Ministry have decided to move forward with the construction of the US$8bn new refinery, so-called Dos Bocas, with a capacity of 340,000 bbl/d (including 170,000 bbl/d of gasoline and 120,000 bbl/d of diesel) to be built in the state of Tabasco. Construction is to start in June 2019 and is expected to be completed in 2022.

Earlier, when the government called for bids on the project, offered bids rose the costs to US$10bn to US$12bn and the construction completion was expected between 2023 and 2025. Under these circumstances, the government decided to take into its own hands the construction of the refinery.

The project is part of the Refining Plan for Mexico (December 2018) which also included the refurbishments of Pemex’s six refineries existing in 2019. The refurbishment will have an estimated cost of US$9.5bn and should increase refining efficiency (as refining plants run at only around 40% of their capacity nowadays due to lack of investment). With this Plan, the total refining capacity of Pemex in 2022 is estimated to reach around 1.9 mb/d (+19%), including 781,000 bbl/d of gasoline and 560,000 bbl/d of diesel.

Pemex owns the 6 refineries of the country: Salina Cruz (330,000 bbl/d), Tula Hidalgo (315,000 bbl/d), Cadereyta (275,000 bbl/d), Salamanca (222,000 bbl/d), Madero (177,000 bbl/d) and Minatitlán (285,000 bbl/d); corresponding to a total capacity of 1.6 mb/d.

Italian oil and gas company Eni has announced a gas and condensate discovery in CTP-Block 4, offshore Ghana. The area has proven resources between 550 bcf and 650 bcf (15.6 bcm and 18.4 bcm) of gas and 18 mbl to 20 mbl of condensate. The discovery is located close to existing infrastructures, which could ease commercialisation. …

Danish energy group Ørsted has decided to divest from the Stigsnæs coal-fired power plant and the Stigsnæs Transit Harbour. The group signed an agreement to sell the assets to a consortium named Stigsnæs Industripark A/S, which includes Rimeco Aktieselskab, Aabenraa, Kloster A/S, Løsning, HM Entreprenør A/S, Horsens, and P.

New Zealand has approved a bill to become carbon neutral by 2050 (except for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the agricultural sector). The bill establishes a Climate Change Commission in charge of elaborating a roadmap and plan to be updated every five years. The bill is still subject of approval at the parliament, which could take place by end-2019. …

The state-run National Oil Corporation of Libya plans on increasing its current oil output to 1.4 mbl/d by end-2019 and to 2.1 mbl/d by 2023 under the framework of its five-year strategy. …

The Greek power grid transmission operator ADMIE has signed up for a €178m loan with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund the construction of the 132 km underwater power interconnection of Crete to the Peloponnese peninsula. The €350m project is expected to be finalised in 2020.  …

Iran’s total installed power capacity reached 80.5 GW at end-April 2019. The country power mix remains dominated by combined cycle power plants that account for 31% of total capacity, followed by pure gas-fired power plants (30%) and hydropower 20%.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has announced that is subsidiary Mozambique LNG1, has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with the Japanese company JERA and Taiwan state-run company CPC Corporation. The SPA includes supply of 1.6 Mt/y (2.15 bcm/y) of LNG over 17 years from the commercial start date.