PE Live: Safeguarding Mexican investment
The suspension of licensing rounds may have disappointed the private sector. But international treaties offer crucial protection against further unwinding of the country’s energy reforms
Mexico’s appetite for foreign investment has changed dramatically since the landmark energy reforms that began in late 2013. Bidding rounds opened the door to a wave of IOCs eager to participate in the country’s upstream, ending almost 80 years of state-controlled monopoly. But since the inauguration of President Andres Lopez Obrador in late 2018, operators have faced a very different government stance. Licensing rounds, immediately frozen by Lopez Obrador, are still suspended and his administration remains critical of contracts previously signed with IOCs. Citing energy security concerns, the Lopez Obrador government has promised to maintain restrictions on future licensing rounds until ope
Also in this section
27 March 2024
Oil producers have to untangle the increasingly complicated relationship with their natural resources
26 March 2024
Strategic stocks have become as much a market management tool as a security of supply buffer, and this new tactic is likely to continue beyond the next election
25 March 2024
Low carbon intensity and sizeable projects such as Johan Castberg coming onstream in late 2024 suggest a robust outlook at least until 2030
22 March 2024
And the outlook for the country’s upstream appears to have improved following legal setbacks in 2023