Since the building's opening, it has been occupied by state-owned Pemex, one of the largest petroleum companies in the world.

Later, these buildings were replaced by a pair of 26-story towers to house Pemex's administrative offices.

However, the 1980s oil boom demanded office space growth and Pemex decided to build a single 51-story tower in a downtown lot with a huge plaza covering an underground avenue.

The Pemex Executive Tower remained the tallest building in Mexico for almost 20 years,[2] until August 2003, when the 55-story Torre Mayor was completed only 800 m (2,600 ft) away.

On 31 January 2013, a powerful explosion rocked the tower, claiming 37 lives and injuring approximately 126.