Mexico is expected to increase imports from the U.S. with Pemex?s biggest refinery out of service for at least two weeks.

 La planta de Salina Cruz, que puede procesar 330.000 barriles por día, estará fuera de servicio al menos hasta la primera semana de julio, dijo el martes un funcionario de prensa que pidió no ser identificado debido a la política de Pemex. La tormenta tropical Calvin golpeó la refinería en la costa sur, provocando un desbordamiento de petróleo que luego se incendió.

The U.S. has plenty of gasoline to export as Gulf Coast refiners run at record-high rates, Mark Broadbent, principal research analyst at Wood MacKenzie in Houston, said by telephone. ?Pemex may be able to raise the rates at their other refineries a little bit to make up some of the gap, but the bulk will be coming from increased imports,? he said.

Gasoline prices may rise on the U.S. West Coast if Pemex doesn?t have the plant up in a couple of weeks, Energy Aspects Ltd. analyst Robert Campbell said. Salina Cruz produced about a quarter of Mexico?s gasoline in the 12 months ending in April, he said.

 ?That?s a chunky amount,? he said by phone from London. ?You could see very strong gasoline and diesel imports comparable to levels seen in the third quarter of last year.?

Campbell dijo que la interrupción de la refinería puede combinarse con actividad de tormenta tropical en el Golfo de México para afectar el suministro y transporte de combustible en la región.

?Pemex has a track record of sometimes being optimistic about these things,? he said. ?It will be interesting to see if there is any hurricane activity on the Gulf Coast this week if that has an impact on product availability given the extra stress from Latin America.?

Pemex está buscando inversionistas para sus refinerías, que han sufrido una falta crónica de mantenimiento y le han costado a Pemex hasta 100,000 millones de pesos (5,500 millones de dólares) en pérdidas.

The incident at Salina Cruz could hurt that search, Broadbent said. ?If they are having to shut down their whole refinery for fires, it?s certainly going to lower the value of the refinery to a potential partner that is looking to invest.?