Sabotage blamed for Pemex pipeline explosions in Mexico

Mexico announced today that Petroleos Mexicanos, also known as Pemex, was the victim of several explosions that affected at least five different pipelines in the country.

Pemex, the Mexican state oil monopoly, has stated that today's attacks were deliberate in nature, and forced the evacuation of around 12,000 people. Luckily, as of now there are no reported deaths resulting from today's attacks.

This is not the first time this summer that Pemex has been attacked. In July it was reported that a leftist guerrilla group (the Popular Revolutionary Army) attacked not only another major Pemex pipeline, but also carried out attacks on at least a dozen other major companies. The companies attacked included big names such as Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC), Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) and Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY).

Following the attacks earlier this summer, the Mexican government increased security at "strategic installations" around the country, but that did not stop the wave of violence today.

According to a report on Bloomberg, it appears as though the five pipelines were hit by six different explosions, and that four of these explosions resulted in fires, which have since been put under control.

There are still no estimates as to the effect that today's attacks will have on the country's energy supplies, but the attack in July reportedly resulted in more than 100 companies having to cut or suspend production due to lack of gas.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.