The US government has granted Mexico’s Pemex a licence to import crude oil from the US in exchange for crude from Mexico, the state-owned company announced in a Wednesday release.

Pemex strikes crude deal with US

MEXICO CITY, October 29, 2015 – The US government has granted Mexico’s Pemex a licence to import crude oil from the US in exchange for crude from Mexico, the state-owned company announced Wednesday.

This unprecedented move will give PMI Comercio, a subsidiary of Pemex, the right to import light crude and process up to 75,000 barrels of oil per day in its refineries. This will bring the yearly amount of processed imported US crude in Mexico to 27 million barrels of oil.

The current import limit was adjusted from 100,000 barrels of oil per day to accommodate the refinery’s capacity, according to a company spokesperson.

The deal further stipulates that Mexico must refine all imported US oil and cannot re-export to other countries. This is the first time that the US granted approval to export crude to a country other than Canada.

Shipments of light crude to Mexico are expected to begin from early November.

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