This is a hard blow for Air Liquide. Mexico announced Friday by decree the “immediate” occupation of a factory operated by the French gas leader, for the benefit of the state oil company Pemex, invoking a law authorizing expropriations.
Signed by the President of the Republic Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the decree published in the Official Journal on Friday declares “of public utility” the hydrogen production plant located “inside” a refinery in Tula, in the state of Hidalgo (center). The text specifies – without naming it – that the French company has “ten working days” to launch a legal procedure for compensation, in accordance with the law on expropriations.
Air Liquide applauded “a long-term contract” in 2017
On September 6, 2017, Air Liquide announced “a long-term contract with Pemex for the supply of hydrogen to the Tula refinery in Mexico”. “With an investment of 50 million euros for the purchase and optimization of the existing hydrogen production unit, this contract will allow Air Liquide to strengthen its presence in central Mexico,” the group explained at the time. Hydrogen is used in the refining of crude oil.
“The Tula refinery pays a fixed share to a hydrogen supplier, which increases costs (…)”, explains the decree in its expectations. The decree adds that Pemex’s takeover of the hydrogen plant inside the Tula refinery “will improve margins” and contribute “to national energy sovereignty”, a priority of the left-nationalist president.
Last March, the Head of State celebrated the 85th anniversary of the “oil expropriation” in front of thousands of supporters. His distant predecessor Lazaro Cardenas (1934-1940) nationalized 17 foreign oil companies, giving rise to the creation of Petroleos mexicanos (Pemex).