U.S. Approves Mexico’s Purchase of Texas Oil Refinery

According to the Government of Mexico, The U.S gave their permission for the purchasing of Royal Dutch Shell by Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), giving them the majority ownership stake in a Texas oil refinery. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. 

In an press conference with President Lopez Obrador and Pemex CEO Octavio Romero, Romero remarked, “The idea is to finalize the purchase during the first weeks of 2022,” 

Shell indicated last week that the sale of its Deer Park share to Pemex was subject to CFIUS approval. However Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on the same conference that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) showed that there were no unresolved national security issues regarding the deal.

Lopez Obrador thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for his cooperation during the approval process of the deal, which is part of a plan to make Mexico self-sufficient in gasoline.

The deal to sell Shell’s 50% stake in the Deer Park refinery outside Houston to Pemex for $596 million was announced first in May. According to Pemex CEO, the purchase terms haven’t been modified since then and Mexico will pay off the current debt of Shell and Pemex in the refinery, which is roughly $1.2 billion.

The oil refinery is expected to close the deal in the next few days, as the general manager Guy Hackwell already announced it to their employees: “In the coming days, we will work on finalizing the closing date for the deal,”

Original source material for this article taken from here