Mexico’s Pemex has shipped its first fuel export cargo from the newly constructed Olmeca refinery to India, after facing some delays and escalating costs.

On September 11, Pemex loaded approximately 112,000 barrels of petroleum coke onto the vessel Ocean Royal at the port of Dos Bocas and expected to arrive at the port of Dahej in Gujarat, India, a major industrial hub for chemical and petrochemical companies by October.

The shipment was then picked up with a larger cargo of petroleum coke from Corpus Christi, Texas, on September 15, as reported by data from the ship-tracking service Kpler.

Petroleum coke, a byproduct of the oil refining process, is utilized in power plants and the manufacturing of products such as glass and steel.

Olmeca refinery commenced diesel production from crude oil in July, according to Pemex. Although the output has yet to meet the necessary specifications for domestic or international sales.

Olmeca refinery had processed 65,046 barrels per day (bbl/d) of crude oil in July, resulting in the production of 21,511 bbl/d of diesel and 8,775 bbl/d of petroleum coke.

Notably, Pemex has secured another deal to sell petroleum coke from Olmeca and is producing fuel oil and asphalt at the refinery, although gasoline production has not yet commenced.