The Mexican national oil producer Pemex has announced plans to construct a new refinery aimed at cutting the country's growing reliance on crude imports.

Presently, the Mexico City government is being forced to spend billions of dollars on importing fuel from overseas so as to meet steadily increasing consumer demand, a situation which prompted the country's president Felipe Calderon to call on Pemex to draw up plans for a possible new refinery.

As such, the state-owned firm has now submitted proposals for a new plant capable of producing 300,000 barrels of heavy crude a day, with nine separate sites having been earmarked for the development.

This latest initiative comes on the back of Pemex spending the past ten years upgrading its six refineries with the aim of increasing output and maintaining its position as the sixth-largest producer in the world, according to the US-based Energy Information Administration.

5th Global Education & Training event for Oil and Gas: Exploration & Production