Pemex Moves to Contain Fresh Oil Leak at Gulf of Mexico Facility

Pemex is working to contain a fresh crude oil leak from a pipeline at one of its facilities in the Gulf of Mexico off Campeche, Mexico's Science Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said the leak was detected on Thursday morning. It expects the slick to drift westward over the coming days and, for now, does not forecast it reaching the coast. A department of the ministry said in a statement that it would keep monitoring the slick's path in case conditions change.

No estimate of the volume spilled has been provided. A Pemex spokesperson said the department was handling updates on the spill.

The incident is the latest to affect the state oil producer's aging offshore network. It follows a major Pemex spill in February caused by a leak near the Abkatun field. Pemex was slow to acknowledge that spill, which polluted parts of Mexico's Gulf coast, and no full accounting of the environmental damage has been released.

Pemex operates extensively in the Gulf of Mexico, where its biggest producing fields are located. Many of those fields are mature assets tied to extensive offshore infrastructure.