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Pemex's history shows decades of failure.
Oil gushed from its Ixtoc I well for nine months in 1979, dumping 3.3 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1984, gas leaks at its San Juanico facility triggered explosions that killed 500 people.
Today, drug cartels steal fuel from its pipelines and corrupt officials drain its budget.
In June 1979, Pemex's Ixtoc I oil well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, spewing 3.3 million barrels of crude oil over nine months.
The spill created an oil slick spanning hundreds of miles, coating beaches from Mexico to Texas.
Oil coated pelicans and sea turtles, killing them by the thousands.
The slick choked off oxygen in the water, suffocating fish and destroying coral reefs.
Local fishing communities lost their primary source of income as fish populations crashed.
Pemex's attempts to cap the well failed repeatedly.
The oil continued flowing until March 1980—making Ixtoc I one of the largest marine oil spills in history.
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At 5:35 AM on November 19, 1984, a series of explosions ripped through the Pemex gas plant in San Juanico, Mexico.
The blasts killed over 500 people and injured thousands more in this small town near Mexico City.
Gas leaks and equipment failures had plagued the facility for months.
Managers ignored these warning signs, focusing instead on maintaining production quotas.
The plant's safety systems and emergency protocols had deteriorated through neglect.
The initial explosion triggered a chain reaction through the facility's gas storage tanks.
The blasts shattered windows within a 5-mile radius and leveled nearby homes.
Fireballs rose hundreds of feet into the air as 11,000 cubic meters of liquefied gas ignited.
Workers inside the plant had no escape route.
The disaster overwhelmed local hospitals.
Burn victims filled every available bed. Rescue workers pulled survivors from collapsed buildings throughout the surrounding neighborhood.
Many families lost both their homes and their loved ones in a single morning.
Pemex had cut maintenance budgets while pushing aging equipment beyond capacity.
Basic emergency procedures existed only on paper.
This negligence became one of Mexico's deadliest industrial accidents.
Pemex's corruption cases cost Mexico billions in public funds.
Former CEO Emilio Lozoya allegedly took bribes from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company, in exchange for construction contracts.
Prosecutors claimed these bribes reached millions of dollars.
Within Pemex, multiple executives diverted funds through rigged contracts and kickback schemes.
The company's weak internal controls and concentrated decision-making power enabled this theft of public resources.
These funds could have funded Mexico's schools, hospitals, and roads.
The investigation of Lozoya revealed specific patterns: contract inflation, fake consulting agreements, and offshore bank accounts used to hide illegal payments.
Mexican drug cartels have a history of stealing fuel from Pemex pipelines, causing significant economic and safety problems.
They tapped into pipelines using specialized equipment, siphoned fuel into tanker trucks, and sold it through illegal networks.
The theft cost Mexico millions of dollars annually and created explosion risks at pipeline breach points.
Corrupt officials and employees helped cartels access the pipelines and transport stolen fuel.
The profits funded other criminal operations like drug and weapons trafficking.
The Mexican government responded by posting military guards at pipelines and investigating corrupt officials, but widespread corruption hampered these efforts.
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