London (Platts)--1Feb2013/531 am EST/1031 GMT

Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex said Friday its operations were continuing as normal despite a blast at its Mexico City headquarters late Thursday that killed 25 people and injured 101.

On its website, Pemex also said in a short statement that it would be able to continue to make payments as usual.

"Pemex confirms that its production processes, and its response and execution capacity will continue without irregularities," it said.

"As a result, all commitments with its financial and commercial counterparties will be met in a timely and appropriate manner," it said.

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There has still been no official cause given by Pemex or the Mexican authorities for the blast that occurred in an annex of the HQ building.

Mexico's secretary of the interior Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told reporters at the scene that investigations were underway into the cause, not ruling out some form of attack.

"The authorities have all resources at their disposal to investigate and determine the causes of the accident. [The president] issued instructions to the authorities concerned to convene national and international experts to help with the investigation," Osorio Chong said according to a transcript of the news conference on the Pemex website.

"The purpose is very clear: The research should yield accurate, reliable and robust information to learn the origin and causes of the accident."

SEVERE DAMAGE

Asked whether there was the possibility Pemex had been targeted by terrorists, Osorio Chong said it would be irresponsible to speculate.

He added that the blast occurred at 3:40 pm local time in the North Annex B-2 of the Pemex Administrative Center.

He said there was an explosion that "seriously affected the ground floor, basement and mezzanine of the building and caused severe damage to three floors."

Most Pemex employees leave work at 4pm, he said.

President Enrique Pena Nieto arrived at the scene in the early evening.

Emilio Lozoya, Pemex's director-general, and other senior executives of the company are in Asia to visit shipyards involved in rig construction.

Pemex had initially said on its Twitter account that as a "preventive measure" the company was evacuating the tower because of a power outage.

Subsequent messages confirmed that there had been an explosion, with people injured and damage to the building.

The 52-story Pemex tower, which dominates the annex and all the surrounding neighborhood, is the second-tallest building in Mexico City.

--Stuart Elliott, stuart_elliott@platts.com
--Edited by Jeremy Lovell, jeremy_lovell@platts.com

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