The Mexican Institute of Petroleum (IMP) is embroiled in a corruption scandal that jeopardizes its financial integrity. Despite the market investigation carried out by IMP itself indicating that the company IDINSA did not meet the technical requirements, its economic proposal was considered in the bidding process for the construction of a catalyst production plant in March 2024.
A week before the final ruling, several formal complaints about irregularities and bias in the award process were sent to the OIC and the SFP, but these complaints were dismissed due to lack of solid evidence. The catalyst plant, whose operation was supposed to have started in July 2024, remains under construction with no clear completion date.
The company IDINSA, linked to high-ranking officials of the IMP and politically influential figures, received multimillion-dollar contracts for the project despite its evident inability to meet minimum technical and financial requirements. Even with delays and deficiencies in the execution of the contracts, IDINSA was awarded a third contract amounting to 419 million pesos.
The scandal has revealed a pattern of favoritism and raises questions about the transparency of the bidding process. Responses from IMP authorities have been evasive regarding corruption allegations, raising further doubts about the legality of the entire procedure.
The project budget was raised just before the award, leading to suspicions about the intention to justify IDINSA's selection, whose offer exceeded the original allotted budget. Everything indicates that this budget increase was designed to favor IDINSA, whose lack of technical capability has compromised the execution of the project and generated serious criticism regarding IMP's management.
