Pemex Lost Millions in Lawsuits Alleging US Firms Bought Stolen Fuel Raul Linares and Tania L. Montalvo - Insight Crime
go to original December 12, 2016

Mexico’s oil thieves cost industry billions of dollars (CCTV America)

Mexico's state-run oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) lost $300 million in three lawsuits against US companies after accusing them of involvement in buying and processing Mexican fuel stolen by organized crime groups. Pemex was left empty-handed for two reasons: the judge ruled that the company did not provide sufficient evidence for their case, or that the money that would have been repaid could not be collected.

Pemex sued 23 US companies and six individuals in three separate trials for allegedly buying and distributing Mexican fuel that was stolen by drug cartels in the Burgos Basin oil region, which encompasses the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Coahuila. Pemex sought $300 million in damages, but the company only recuperated $71 million in damages from five companies and one individual because some of the companies did not have assets available to pay the damages.
 


Pemex and its subsidiary, Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP), presented a first round of claims for the alleged theft, storage and distribution of condensed natural gas on June 7, 2010. On May 29, 2011 and April 10, 2012 the company's attorneys filed additional claims.

In a preliminary ruling in 2013, Judge Sim Lake from the court in Houston, Texas ruled that "the court concluded that PEP lacks vital evidence in order to confirm the allegations of fraud, breach of contract, warranties, and other allegations." On May 30, 2014, the judge issued a final judgment, reiterating that Pemex did not provide enough evidence to prove its allegations.

Pemex appealed the judgment in March 2015 and lost. The Mexican company was forced to cover the cost of litigation for the involved parties, which amounted to $830,000. Pemex has refused to make the payment, arguing that the company signed a contract with its law firm stating that the firm had agreed to cover all legal costs in the case of an unsuccessful resolution for Pemex. The name of the law firm has not been revealed.

These cases against US companies were the final three that Pemex launched for the theft of natural gas in 2009. To date, in all of the trials - in which the total requested damages payment is unknown - Pemex claims to have been awarded $80 million dollars but has only received $9 million before losing the subsequent three trials.

Read the rest at Insight Crime | Español

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InSight Crime is a foundation dedicated to the study of the principal threat to national and citizen security in Latin America and the Caribbean: organized crime. We seek to deepen and inform the debate about organized crime in the Americas by providing the general public with regular reporting, analysis and investigation on the subject and on state efforts to combat it.

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