According to a report published by The Universal, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has contaminated 777 sites throughout the country, as a result of hydrocarbon spills and leaks. Although most of these locations have an approved remediation program, The impact of these cases has only been resolved in 14% of the sites between 2008 and 2023.
In addition, Pemex’s commitment to repair the environmental and social consequences is not only low, but slow, As shown by the information from the National Inventory of Contaminated and Remediated Sites* of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat).
The analysis of the data reveals that in the 112 sites where Pemex did repair the damage, it took, on average, four years to solve the impacts caused by its failures.
The three states most affected in these 15 years are those where oil activity is the basis of the state and national economy. First of all, Veracruz has been affected in 344 places, Tamaulipas at 135 and Tabasco at 64. In all cases, the national trend is repeated: Only one in 10 places receives attention to environmental damage.
Official data reveal a deep environmental crisis
Hydrocarbon pollution has left a scar in the country that extends over a total area of 6 million 795 thousand square meters.which is equivalent to the first three sections of the Chapultepec Forest completely contaminated with oil, but the true magnitude of the disaster is three-dimensional, since The volume calculated by Semarnat is 13.3 million cubic meters.
That is to say, The damage infiltrates the subsoil and the country’s water sources, and the contamination reaches beyond what is seen with the naked eye.; For this reason, a remediation strategy is required that, although active, has not had the desired effect.
Just last Tuesday, October 21, Pemex reported a failure in the Poza Rica-Madero pipeline, in the municipality of Álamo Temapache, Veracruz. Although he claimed that the repair was efficient and quick, aerial images showed the true impact: a river that now runs contaminated with oil. This is the company’s most recent spill, which affects an important source of water supply for the population of Temapache.
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Oil spills are not a priority for Pemex
In its statement number 32, Pemex assured that, after concluding the spill containment maneuvers, it would continue with the sanitation and remediation work on the banks and nearby areas of the Pantepec River. However, the long-term environmental and social impact is not yet known.
In other cases, Pemex has acted slowly. There are spills in the country that were identified in 2008 and that, despite having a remediation program, have not received attention to date.
For example, the crude oil spill that occurred that year in the municipality of Actopan, in Veracruz, which ended up generating an environmental emergency that affected an area of 1,792 square meters. Despite the report, to this day the environmental emergency remains unaddressed, according to the data analyzed.
Furthermore, those who have received care have taken up to seven years to complete their repair program. In Papantla, also in Veracruz, a crude oil leak was identified, linked to the extraction of hydrocarbon in 2012, but it was corrected until 2019.
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Public information from Semarnat shows that since 2019, Pemex has not reported any environmental remediation as a result of its activity. Furthermore, starting in 2017, the number of contaminated sites attributed to the oil company decreased drastically, reaching zero in 2018.
However, their work has had effects that are public knowledge. For example, in August 2020, A fuel spill in Juandhó, in Hidalgo, contaminated the irrigation canals of the crop fields of at least six municipalities.
Another case is that of October 2022, when Four beaches in Salina Cruz, in Oaxaca, faced the effects of a 10-kilometer-long hydrocarbon spill, attributable to the company. Where images and videos of animals covered in oil, including turtles and sea birds.
For its part, the environmental NGO, Greenpeace, reported in recent days that accidents at Pemex increased between 2020 and 2022 by 152%, causing even more serious impacts.
The information published by Semarnat was updated in June 2025; However, the agency warns that it can make “retroactive updates, so historical information may change in subsequent updates.”
Pemex was asked for a position in relation to the information in that work, without responding at the time of publication. Semarnat was also sought, which did not respond to the request either.
Given
- 152% is the increase in Petróleos Mexicanos claims between 2020 and 2022.
- 777 sites throughout the country have been contaminated by Pemex, as a result of spills and leaks.
*The National Inventory of Contaminated and Remediated Sites is made up of the procedures carried out by the agency for the repair of environmental emergencies, as well as information from the National Water Commission (Conagua), the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) and other national and international organizations.
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