Pemex's trading arm suspends business with Vitol amid U.S. bribery probe (updated)
10/12/2020 16:04
(Adds context on contracts)
MEXICO CITY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The commercial arm of
Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has
temporarily suspended business with the world's largest
independent oil trader Vitol, which is the subject of a U.S.
bribery investigation, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
As part of a wider probe, the U.S. Justice Department said
last week that the U.S. subsidiary of Vitol paid bribes to Pemex
PEMX.UL employees in exchange for lucrative contracts.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IJ1UL
The department said Vitol's U.S. unit had agreed to pay $164
million to resolve U.S. government probes into alleged bribes
the firm paid in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
In the letter seen by Reuters and dated Wednesday, Pemex arm
PMI Comercio Internacional said it had "taken the decision to
suspend temporarily commercial relations" with Vitol's
companies.
Pemex and Vitol did not respond to requests for comment.
It was not immediately clear whether all trade between
Mexico and Vitol was banned or only fuel provided by Vitol to
PMI.
Many oil trading houses buy Mexican crude from Pemex in spot
deals and some of them also provide natural gas or liquefied
natural gas (LNG) to Mexico's state power company CFE.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on
Thursday his government would look into the bribery allegations.
"It's under investigation and if true, those responsible
will be punished. We're not covering up for anyone," he said.
The bribes allegedly took place during the administration of
Lopez Obrador and under Mexico's previous president, Enrique
Pena Nieto, according to Mexican newspaper Reforma.
Swiss company Vitol, run out of London, trades about 8
million barrels per day of oil.
(Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher in Mexico City; Additional
reporting by Julia Payne in London and Raul Cortes Fernandez and
Adriana Barrera in Mexico City; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Edmund
Blair and David Gregorio)
((Stefanie.Eschenbacher@thomsonreuters.com;))