Pemex Logged 1,490 Spills and Leaks Since Late 2024, Records Show

MEXICO · ENERGY

Mexico’s state oil company recorded nearly 1,500 spills and leaks in the first 18 months of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s term, according to records obtained through a freedom-of-information request, a 56% rise on the comparable period under her predecessor. The figures, concentrated on the Gulf coast, have sharpened scrutiny of how much of Pemex’s budget goes to environmental protection.

What the Pemex spills data shows

From the start of the current six-year term in October 2024 through March 2026, Pemex recorded a total of 1,490 spills and leaks, according to data from the company’s emergency-coordination centre, obtained through a freedom-of-information request filed by the Spanish newspaper EL PAÍS.

That total is 56% higher than the incidents reported in the first 18 months of the previous administration. The data indicate that 2025 was one of the most critical years of the past decade, reaching 1,015 spills, even though Pemex had not yet published its 2025 sustainability report.

Where the Pemex spills are concentrated

The Gulf of Mexico states of Tabasco, Veracruz and Tamaulipas have for years led the country in spills and leaks because of the intensity of oil activity in the region. Together they account for 77.3% of operational incidents in the current term, with Veracruz registering 678, Tabasco 299 and Tamaulipas 175.

Researchers note that the impact extends beyond the environment to the social and economic sphere, as fishing communities and the production chains that depend on them are hit when a spill reaches the coast.

The budget question behind the Pemex spills

According to the 2026 federal budget, Pemex received more than 17 billion pesos ($890m) this year, of which only around 2.48 billion pesos ($130m), about 0.47% of the total, is earmarked for the ecological environment, meaning programmes and operations focused on environmental mitigation.

By contrast, exploration to discover new deposits received 7.63% of the budget, and the production of crude, gas and petrochemicals plus facility maintenance took 52.23%, a distribution critics say reflects the priority given to output over environmental safety.

The February Gulf spill

The most visible recent case was a spill in the Gulf of Mexico that began in February 2026 and spread across more than 600km of coastline from Tabasco to Veracruz and Tamaulipas. Crews collected more than 825 tonnes of waste, and the cleanup involved over 3,000 people, with vessels, aircraft, drones and containment barriers.

Environmental organizations, using satellite imagery, said the spill had begun weeks before authorities acknowledged it, and criticized what they called a late and opaque institutional response. Pemex initially pointed to other possible causes before admitting a leak from its own pipeline infrastructure.

The official response

President Sheinbaum requested a thorough investigation into the February spill. Three Pemex employees linked to alleged negligence or procedural failures were dismissed and placed under investigation by the federal prosecutor’s office and the anti-corruption secretariat, after logbooks showed a reported pipeline leak had not followed all protocols.

More broadly, analysts point to a pattern: one technical review of more than a thousand accident records between 2019 and 2026 found a large share with no record of fines or economic sanctions, with official rulings kept reserved for up to five years.