Mexico News Update. June 22, 2023.

Translation of article published on June 21, 2023 in El Universal Mainstream News outlet.

$150 M Dollars “Disappear” in Pemex

By Mario Maldonado

The complex organization of Pemex and its subsidiaries has provided an opportunity for its executives, especially those who have been with the oil company for decades and are familiar with its gray areas, to manipulate data, favor or harm contractors, and "lose" resources from the so-called State Productive Company, which is a bottomless pit and has been a symbol of corruption since its creation.

A new scandal is brewing within the Mexican oil company. It involves the "misplacement" or "disappearance" of $150 million US Dollars allocated to the Campo Nejo project, located in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. In March of last year, Pemex and the National Hydrocarbons Commission modified the development plan for this gas and oil field, which was allocated a budget of just over $1.2 billion US Dollars to be spent by 2035. Of this amount,approximately 10% is unaccounted for, according to complaints that have reached the company's Internal Control Body.

Investigations point to Ulises Hernández Romano, the current director of PMI, the Pemex subsidiary responsible for marketing, exporting, and importing crude oil and other hydrocarbons abroad. It is one of the most coveted subsidiaries by employees, as it generates significant money and power within the command structure of the oil company.

Ulises Hernández joined PMI in September 2019, following the renewal of executives in that subsidiary, one of the most opaque ones within Pemex. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated in his morning conference that the changes were "for the good of the oil company" and were approved by the Board. As he mentioned since taking office, one of his crusades was to reduce corruption in the oil company, which has not happened.

Before becoming the director of PMI, Hernández Romano was the director of Resources, Reserves, and Partnerships at Pemex Exploration and Production, as well as the Deputy Director of Geosciences and Technical Assurance and the Deputy Director of Portfolio Administration and Access to New Areas. He held some of these positions in Tabasco, the homeland of the current CEO of Pemex, Octavio Romero, who is said to be already aware of the case of the $150 million and has requested a more in-depth investigation.

Complaints filed with the Internal Control Body expose that Ulises Hernández authorized the allocation of additional resources to the Campo Nejo project due to his influence in the Corporate Administration Directorate of Pemex and the National Hydrocarbons Commission. In the latter, he is linked to Armando Mejía, who retired from Pemex in August 2022 and ended up in the regulatory body, where he was appointed Director of Measurement and Marketing of Production. Previously, he served in the state-owned company as theCommercial Director of Crude Oil and was in charge of the Operations Directorate.

Another irregularity related to Ulises Hernández is that despite being the CEO of PMI since October 2019, the Corporate Administration Directorate also reports income to him, according to a request for information made to Pemex and answered by the company. It is a kind of "negotiation" to maintain salaries and benefits such as low-interest mortgage loans.

The mentioned government officer has a close relationship with Estela Campuzano, the legal director of PMI, and is linked to the extension of contracts with Baker Hughes in the current administration, which has been under scrutiny due to its relationship with a house occupied by José Ramón López Beltrán in Houston, Texas.

Ulises Hernández has been working at Pemex for over 20 years. In the previous administration, he was one of the promoters of the energy reform led by Enrique Peña Nieto's government, which was canceled by President López Obrador's orders. His knowledge of the intricacies within the oil company propelled him to become the powerful director of PMI in the current administration.