Vitol, one of the world's largest commodities traders, is seeking permits to operate the Rio Bravo fuel storage terminal it built six years ago in northern Mexico. The move signals its intention to re-establish in Mexico after a bribery scandal.
The terminal's opening coincides with a global scramble for energy supply infrastructure amid the Iran war. If opened, Vitol would become one of the few foreign companies allowed to run major petroleum infrastructure in Mexico, where Pemex dominates.
Vitol has been talking to service providers and gathering independent certification documents needed to apply for permits from Mexico's energy ministry. The terminal, located in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on the U.S.-Mexico border, has never operated since construction finished in 2020.
The terminal is designed to receive fuel via a pipeline from Brownsville, Texas, allowing it to benefit from fixed pipeline tariff rates and avoid surging seaborne freight costs due to the Iran war.
With a storage capacity of 270,000 barrels, the Rio Bravo terminal consists of 12 tanks for gasoline and diesel. Vitol was obliged to offer the terminal to Pemex, but Pemex did not comment.
Vitol has a troubled history in Mexico: in December 2020, it admitted to bribing officials in Ecuador, Mexico, and Brazil. Its U.S. subsidiary paid $164 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. In March 2021, Pemex's trading arm PMI suspended its commercial relationship with Vitol.
