Mexico’s Dos Bocas oil refinery. Photo: Google

By KELIN DILLON

According to a new report by Mexican daily newspaper Reforma, Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) awarded yet another bidless contract for the construction of its controversial Dos Bocas oil refinery on Jan. 29, continuing the company’s trend of circumventing the competitive bidding process for the project’s lucrative government contracts.

Pemex reportedly handed the 914 million peso contract in question to the High Technology Urbanization company from the State of México (Edoméx) to build the Dos Bocas’ electrical, rainwater, hydraulic, irrigation and wastewater infrastructure, among other parts of the facility.

The company previously handed a 100 million peso contract to Moisés Araf Hop’s construction company without public tender in August 2022.

These two aforementioned deals mark the only contracts awarded to companies outside of Pemex’s proprietary subsidiaries, the internal finances and details of which Pemex has failed to publicly disclose – despite being funded by Mexico’s Federation Expenditure Budget. 

Likewise, 99 percent of Dos Bocas’ 201 contracts were made public with the actual sum awarded to its contractors censored.

An October investigation by Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) revealed that Leonardo Cornejo Serrano – the head of Dos Bocas’ construction and noted participant in the notorious Odebrecht bribery scandal – personally signed 99 out of every 100 contracts related to the facility’s construction.

Still, the state-owned oil company is yet to announce definitive plans for the construction of housing for Dos Bocas’ 1,200 workers, as well as the hotel, shops and visitor residences outlined in the project’s agenda.