“Misteriosa explosión”, dice el Financial Times

”Mysterious explosion , dice el Financial Times

Explosión en Pemex obliga a que reforma atienda seguridad, dice una nota del Financial Times

El diario británico destaca que por segunda vez en lo que va del sexenio el mundo posa sus ojos en Pemex; Pemex, destaca, es el símbolo mexicano de la autosuficiencia energética, pero también de inseguridad, robo de petróleo e ineficacia. Recuerda que ya diversas de sus sedes han sufrido varias explosiones fatales de gas. Precisan que tan sólo en septiembre pasado una explosión en una planta de Reynosa, dejó 30 muertos.

El diario británico recuerda que al iniciar su presidencia don Enrique Peña Nieto, dos meses atrás los ojos no se giraron hacia Los Pinos, su residencia oficial, sino hacia la torre de 51 pisos que es el centro de operaciones de Pemex, como el centro del ambicioso programa económico de su gobierno.

Sin embargo, esta semana, esas oficinas, sede de la octava compañía petrolera más grande del mundo por producción, vuelven a ser centro de atención mundial por la “misteriosa explosión”.

El diario cita al director de Pemex, Emilio Loyoza, quien sostuvo que es muy poco tiempo para saber la causa de la explosión. “Un accidente fatal como no puede ser explicado en dos horas… nosotros no especularemos”. Y agregó que sus operaciones no se han visto afectadas

El reporte lo firma Ronald Buchanan y John Paul Rathbone destaca que mientras los rumores de posible bombas o sabotaje en redes sociales es lo que circula, México blindó la seguridad en sus plantas de almacenamiento y producción, centrales eléctricas y aeropuertos nacionales, citando fuentes radiales.

February 1, 2013 6:22 pm

Pemex blast puts onus on energy reforms

By Ronald Buchanan in Mexico City and John Paul Rathbone in London

When Enrique Peña Nieto assumed the Mexican presidency two months ago, many of the nation’s eyes turned not towards Los Pinos, his official residence, but to the 51-storey building across town that is occupied by Pemex, the state oil monopoly at the centre of his ambitious economic reform programme.

This week, Mexican eyes again scanned the headquarters of the eighth-biggest oil company in the world by production after a mysterious explosion on Thursday afternoon in the B2 administrative building next door left 32 people dead and about 100 injured.

Emilio Loyoza, Pemex’s chief executive, said on Friday it was still too early to know the cause of the blast. “A fatal accident like yesterday’s cannot be explained in two hours ... we will not speculate.”

At the site rescuers continued to dig bodies out of the rubble. As of Friday morning, an estimated two dozen people remained trapped.

The company said its operations would not be affected.

Although there is no suggestion of foul play, rumours of bombs and sabotage spread on social media, while Mexico increased security at Pemex storage and production units, power plants and national airports, according to radio Noticias MVX.

Pemex – a symbol in Mexico of energy self-sufficiency but also security problems, oil theft and inefficiency – has suffered several fatal gas explosions.

Last September, 30 people died after an explosion at a plant in Reynosa, near the US border. That was the largest death toll for the company in a decade and prompted calls for better management, to little obvious effect.

This week’s incident, however, has cast further doubt on the company’s ability to modernise and comes as Mr Peña Nieto has pledged to push ahead with the country’s biggest energy sector overhaul since the nationalisation of oilfields belonging to British and US companies by then president Lazaro Cardenas 75 years ago.

While the Mexican stock market has hit record highs recently and the economy is forecast to grow more than 3.5 per cent in 2013, faster than Brazil for the third year in a row, output at Pemex has slumped.

From a peak of 3.4m barrels of oil a day in 2004, production has fallen to about 2.6m bpd. Experts say that without greater foreign investment and technology Mexico could cease to be a major energy exporter within six years, even though it sits on promising deepwater reserves in the Gulf of Mexico.

“So what will the Pemex explosion mean for the national debate on energy reform? It puts Pemex firmly in the spotlight for a start,” tweeted Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson centre in Washington.

“Pemex needs to be modernised from top to bottom, from exploration and production to basic practices ... Will legislators [now] recognise that Pemex has fallen behind the times?”

The contrast between Pemex and the rest of Mexico’s export sector is stark. While foreign car and electronic goods manufacturers have poured investment into the country, boosting national exports to a record, under the Mexican constitution Pemex is only allowed to offer limited service contracts with private companies.

Mr Peña Nieto has promised not to privatise Pemex, but wants to expand the private sector’s role. ExxonMobil is among foreign majors who have said they would be interested in participating if energy reform goes ahead. All previous efforts to reform Pemex, which has nearly 150,000 workers and provides the federal government with a third of its revenues, have failed.

Mr Peña Nieto, who this week promoted his energy reform at an annual conference of his Institutional Revolutionary Party, urged people to refrain from speculation about the explosion.

Speaking on Thursday, he said: “We are going to dedicate ourselves as much as possible to first know what has happened ... if there are people who are responsible in this case, we’ll put the full weight of the law on them.”

Theories as to the cause of the explosion range from an electrical fire to an air conditioning problem to a possible attack. Shortly before the blast, a senior company official said on Twitter that Pemex had reduced its accident rate in recent years.