Home / North America / Mexico / Oil refineries / Pemex Minatitlan Refinery

Pemex Minatitlan Refinery

Refinery in Mexico. Approximate location 17.97499, -94.52497.

RefineryMexicoCO₂ estimate (modelled)

Pemex Minatitlan Refinery is a refinery in Mexico. Its listed capacity is 285,000 BBL per day. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery. It is operated by Petróleos Mexicanos EPE. By capacity it ranks #4 among 7 oil refineries in Mexico. It emits about 1,384,906 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE, roughly comparable to the annual emissions of 323k passenger cars. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 44% below the national median for this sector.

285,000BBL per day
1,384,906t CO₂e / yr (Climate TRACE)
#8CO₂ rank in Mexico
4.86t CO₂ per capacity unit

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3144028.

Data status

Known source data

FacilityPemex Minatitlan Refinery Climate TRACE
CountryMexico Climate TRACE
Coordinates17.97499, -94.52497 Climate TRACE
Sector / subsectoroil-and-gas-refining Climate TRACE
Reported capacity285,000 BBL per day Climate TRACE
Owner / operatorPetróleos Mexicanos EPE Climate TRACE
Modelled CO₂e1,384,906 t/yr Climate TRACE

Calculated from the dataset

Mexico rank#8 of 62 · top 12.9% calculated
Global oil-and-gas-refining rank#246 of 630 · top 39.0% calculated
Climate contextderived from coordinates calculated

Not available

Fuel typeNot available not in dataset
Thermal capacity (MW)Not available not in dataset

Source data, measured cross-checks and calculated values are kept separate. No confidence percentage is invented.

Similar facilities by modelled emissions

Same Climate TRACE subsector; closest non-placeholder modelled CO₂e values. Russia and Belarus excluded.

Operating power plants within 50 km

PowerAtlas operating assets, ordered by great-circle distance from published coordinates.

In context: how this facility compares

At 285,000 BBL per day, Pemex Minatitlan Refinery is around the median refinery in Mexico (285,000 BBL per day). Subsector: oil-and-gas-refining. As refinery, it requires high process heat (typically 200–600°C) for its core industrial operations — heat that must be supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion, and losses through uninsulated vessels and piping represent wasted fuel. Removable modular insulation can cut those losses by 80–96%, surface-cooling equipment to ≤45°C, with payback often under 2 years. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 1,384,906 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

323kcars driven for a year
181khomes' annual energy use
23 milliontree seedlings grown 10 years

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Carbon cost, Scope 1 & decarbonization potential

At its reported 1.4M t CO₂e/yr (Scope 1), Pemex Minatitlan Refinery carries no domestic carbon price; refinerys are not a CBAM-covered good, so there is no border-carbon liability. At the EU ETS reference price (€75/t) the emissions carry an indicative carbon value of €104M/yr. The fastest decarbonization lever is energy efficiency: eliminating heat loss on hot equipment (removable insulation, steam & waste-heat recovery) typically cuts 2–5% of fuel-related CO₂ — here ≈28k t–69k t/yr, worth €2.1M€5.2M, with payback up to 2 years. No domestic carbon price — but cement, steel, aluminium, fertilizer and hydrogen exported to the EU face CBAM at €75/t (rising to 100% by 2034).

1.4M t CO₂e / yrScope 1 emissions
€104M/yrindicative carbon value (not a CBAM liability)
28k t–69k t/yr ≈ €2.1M€5.2MDecarbonization potential

Carbon price: EU CBAM €75/t · EU ETS €79/t, July 2, 2026, refreshed live via Carbon Hub. CO₂: Climate TRACE. Efficiency range: US DOE / ASTM C680 (method). Indicative carbon value, not the cash bill — free allocation applies; not compliance advice. Estimate the saving for this site →

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in Mexico

Pemex Dos Bocas Refinery: 340,000 BBL per day340kPemex Dos …Pemex Salina Cruz Refinery: 330,000 BBL per day330kPemex Sali…Pemex Tula Refinery: 315,000 BBL per day315kPemex Tula…Pemex Minatitlan Refinery: 285,000 BBL per day285kPemex Mina…Pemex Cadereyta Refinery: 275,000 BBL per day275kPemex Cade…Pemex Salamanca Refinery: 245,000 BBL per day245kPemex Sala…Pemex Francisco Madero Refinery: 190,000 BBL per day190kPemex Fran…

Listed capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Petróleos Mexicanos EPE. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Pemex Minatitlan Refinery sits in a tropical monsoon climate zone (Köppen Am), at 18.0°N in the northern hemisphere.

~26°Ctypical annual mean
~28°Ctypical warm-season
Tropical monsoon: warm all year, with distinct wet and dry seasons

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

The local climate sets how fast unprotected steel, protective coatings and the insulation on hot process equipment degrade at this site. It sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

C5ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
49/100environmental-severity index
6.5°Cseasonal temperature swing
42 kmdistance to coast
Very highCUI risk tier

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1242 W/m² to ambient — roughly 0.95× the loss at a 20 °C reference; removable insulation recovers about 1180 W/m² of that. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #4 largest of 7 oil refineries in Mexico by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

Location

Coordinates 17.97499, -94.52497. View on OpenStreetMap.

Heat loss & insulation profile

For a refinery, the main modular-insulation targets are crude & vacuum distillation columns, fired heaters, heat exchangers, steam lines, valves & flanges. Typical hot-surface ranges used for screening: 150–550 °C.

Indicative recoverable energy

A first-pass insulation screen suggests about 48,000 MWh/year of recoverable heat-loss reduction and about 9,700 t CO₂e/year of avoided emissions. Screening estimate scaled from installed process-heat projects and surface-temperature reduction data.

See Inzonex Modular Insulation → Run the calculator →

Screening calculation from facility class, capacity and open emissions/energy context. Engineering survey required before procurement.

Safety & the no-regret first step

Start with a thermal survey of valves, flanges, doors and bends. Removable modular insulation keeps maintenance access open while lowering exposed-surface temperature and wasted heat.

External climate finance your country can access

For energy-efficiency projects around process heat, likely external funding channels include:

CBAM. Exporters of cement, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen and electricity to the EU face the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — cutting embedded emissions (efficiency + insulation) lowers the levy.

Sources: country climate-finance facilities and public development-bank programmes.

Frequently asked questions

What type of facility is Pemex Minatitlan Refinery?

Pemex Minatitlan Refinery is a refinery in Mexico. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

What capacity is listed for Pemex Minatitlan Refinery?

The open dataset lists 285,000 BBL per day of capacity for Pemex Minatitlan Refinery.

How much CO₂ does Pemex Minatitlan Refinery emit?

The page uses about 1,384,906 t CO₂e/year from the open dataset It ranks #8 among facilities in Mexico by estimated CO₂.

Where is Pemex Minatitlan Refinery located?

Pemex Minatitlan Refinery is in Mexico at approximately 17.97499, -94.52497.

Who operates Pemex Minatitlan Refinery?

The operator recorded in the open dataset is Petróleos Mexicanos EPE.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.