Debate Rages over Mexico's Plan to Open Energy Markets
Debate Rages over Mexico's Plan to Open Energy Markets
In view of the ongoing debate, COA’s Eric Farnsworth suggests Mexico’s energy reforms are "both vital and game-changing for Mexico as well as for the rest of North America".
Politicians stand on the podium in the lower house of Congress, waving signs and shouting, “Viva Mexico, THIEVES!” Outside, crowds demonstrate. The sessions drag on into the wee hours until an earthquake forces everyone to evacuate.
It might be a rather typical week in the life of Mexican legislation, if it weren’t for the momentous nature of the laws that are under discussion.
As early as Thursday, a potentially revolutionary reform of Mexico’s oil, gas and electricity industry is expected to clear its final hurdle. The lower house was on the verge Wednesday of approving so-called enabling legislation that will open energy exploration and recovery to scores of foreign firms for the first time in nearly seven decades....
“As a Mexican, I’ve dreamed for years of a reform that would open up to competition and put an end to the taboos and false claims of sovereignty,” he said.
International companies, especially in the United States and Canada, are eagerly awaiting the reforms — and the fine print. Generally, the overhaul, which required amending the Constitution, allows private companies to enter into profit-and-product-sharing partnerships with Mexico to drill on land and offshore.
“Energy reforms in Mexico are both vital and game-changing” for Mexico as well as the rest of North America, Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, said in an energy report released Wednesday....
