(Adds context, comment from Pemex CEO)
MEXICO CITY, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has
authorized the purchase by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) of Royal
Dutch Shell's controlling interest in a Texas oil
refinery, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on
Wednesday.
Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference the U.S.
government had on Tuesday approved Pemex's purchase of the Deer
Park refinery stake, saying: "It's very good news."
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard afterwards displayed
a letter showing that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States (CFIUS) had concluded there were no unresolved
national security concerns regarding the deal.
Last week, Shell said the sale of its Deer Park stake to
Pemex was still pending CFIUS approval https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-new-delay-hits-royal-dutch-shells-sale-texas-refinery-mexicos-pemex-2021-12-16.
Lopez Obrador, who backed the purchase as part of a plan to
make Mexico self-sufficient in gasoline, thanked U.S. President
Joe Biden for his support during the authorization process.
Shell in May disclosed an agreement to sell its 50% interest
in the 302,800-barrel-per-day (bpd) Deer Park refinery outside
Houston to its partner Pemex for some $596 million.
Speaking alongside Lopez Obrador, Pemex's Chief Executive
Officer Octavio Romero told the news conference that the terms
of the deal had not changed since May, and that Mexico would pay
off the existing debt of both Shell and Pemex in the refinery.
(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
