MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, Pemex said that eight workers, three of them from Pemex, were injured in a blast at the Salamanca dispatch terminal. Four people injured in the explosion remain hospitalized.
"Unfortunately, in addition to the worker reported yesterday, a worker from Pemex and two workers from a private company died today," Pemex said in a Thursday statement.
#PemexInforma Esta tarde se registró una explosión en la TAD de Salamanca. No hay personas fallecidas, ni daños materiales severos
— Petróleos Mexicanos (@Pemex) 15 марта 2017 г.
An investigation is underway to determine the causes of the explosion.
Pemex is Mexico's largest oil company that was formed in late 30s through nationalization and merger of all the companies in the country at the time.
In 2014, Mexico's parliament approved legislation to allow private oil contracts as the country's market began to open up to foreign oil firms.
State-owned Pemex petroleum company lost its monopoly over the country's oil reserves, with foreign companies planning to enter the Mexican oil market through profit-sharing and production-sharing contracts, as well as through licensed drilling.