Pemex revokes truck leasing contract after legal reassessment

Bloomberg

Mexican state-owned oil producer Petroleos Mexicanos has fully revoked a truck-leasing contract that was 63 percent more expensive than a prior agreement, according to a company document.
The deal, assigned on Dec. 23 to companies including Integra Arrenda SA, included the leasing of 2,252 6-cylinder 2015-model pickups for an average of 534 pesos a day per vehicle. That compared with a 2014 Jet Van Rental Car SA contract of 328 pesos a day for 54 similar vehicles. The two contracts contain virtually the same specifications.
The bidding process didn’t adhere to company standards and lacked an independent witness, according to the document from the oil producer, known as Pemex. All agreements derived from the contract are now void, it said.
The pricing discrepancy was brought to light in a Bloomberg News story this week. Pemex said Wednesday it would determine the status of the contract after a legal review.
A lawyer for Integra, Antonio Holguin, said on Tuesday the company’s contract is more costly for several reasons, including expectations the trucks will be put to more rigorous use, though the two documents don’t spell out any differences.
President Enrique Pena Nieto — whose administration ended the Pemex oil monopoly in 2014 — has put pressure on the company to cut costs. In February, when he announced Gonzalez Anaya, an economist, would be the new CEO, he said the company was under the gun “to review its expense program and to strengthen its investment processes.”