{"id":60155689,"date":"2026-10-22T18:27:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T17:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60155689"},"modified":"2026-10-22T18:27:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T17:27:46","slug":"mexicos-year-of-oil-spills-fuels-growing-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/mexicos-year-of-oil-spills-fuels-growing-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico\u2019s year of oil spills fuels growing concern"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In early March, Andr\u00e9s Palma was watching his children build a sandcastle on the beach in El Bosque, south-east Mexico. The fisher soon noticed that something was not quite right: his children were playing in sand laced with crude oil residue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palma was witnessing the consequences of a huge oil spill that happened in February, which triggered a 30-day fishing ban and has contaminated fishing grounds along the Gulf coast. Its source was initially disputed but in mid-April, the government said<\/a> the source was a leaking pipeline in the offshore Abkatun oil field, in the Gulf\u2019s south-eastern corner. In the months since the ban has been lifted, fishers like Palma continue to deal with a crashed local market and fish contamination fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere, if you don\u2019t go out fishing, you don\u2019t eat,\u201d explains the 31-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government initially denied any link to the state oil company, Petr\u00f3leos Mexicanos (Pemex). In its April announcement, however, the government confirmed that three state officials had been removed in relation to alleged failures to contain the spill and communicate with the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palma\u2019s is just one Mexican community to be hit by an oil spill in 2026. Data obtained by Dialogue Earth through public information requests shows Pemex has reported nearly 100 spills a year over the past four years, a sudden and sharp increase. It also reveals a large discrepancy between spills reported to financial regulators and the data in its own sustainability reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"map<\/div>
(Source: Gulf of Mexico Reef Corridor Network<\/a>; RCAGM)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the affected communities, residents tell Dialogue Earth of fouled beaches, dead wildlife and devastated livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis data makes us question the viability of continuing with this fossil fuel model that endangers people and the environment,\u201d says Viridiana L\u00e1zaro, a senior climate change and oceans campaigner for Greenpeace Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inconsistent numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tracking Pemex\u2019s spills is not straightforward, as different numbers are reported to different regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Pemex has bonds issued in the US, it is required to file reports with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the National Banking and Securities Commission in Mexico. From the start of 2014 to the end of 2025, Pemex reported 798 pipeline spills and leaks to these financial regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n