Mexico’s petrochemicals sector has suffered from underinvestment and the prioritization of crude oil production by state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), according to a new issue brief published by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. 

ethane price

These factors have led to a steady decrease over the last decade in Pemex’s production of ethane and ethane byproducts, namely ethylene and polyethylene, according to author Adrian Duhalt, postdoctoral fellow in Mexico energy studies at the Houston think tank.

Ethane is a natural gas liquid and “the most important feedstock for Mexico’s petrochemical industry,” Duhalt said. 

Ethane production at Pemex natural gas processing centers averaged 70,773 b/d in 2020, down from 119,496 b/d in 2010, while its...