INDUSTRY
Mexico’s Big Energy Nationalization Plans By: Felicity Bradstock
E
of the decision. Forbes wrote “Mexico Moves To Re-Nationalize Energy Markets – A Return To 1938?”, while the Washington Post published an article entitled “AMLO’s Oil Politics Reveal His Obsession with the Past”. Mexico’s energy sector was originally nationalized in 1938 before eventually allowing for greater levels of international investment under the Enrique Peña Nieto administration in 2014. The privatization of Mexican energy shifted reliance away from state-owned oil and gas company PEMEX, which had been declining for decades. This shift has helped to develop the country’s fossil fuel resources significantly. It also led to wide scale job creation, improved energy transportation infrastructure, and led new oil and gas
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ver since coming to office in 2018, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has been pushing for greater nationalization of the energy sector. AMLO cites over-greedy international energy companies, sectoral corruption, and the need for enhanced national energy security as the main reasons behind the scheme. However, nationalization comes at a cost. This movement is driving away foreign investment and limiting energy sector development to Mexican companies that lack the expertise and equipment to exploit certain resources – such as lithium. AMLO has been criticized for his push for the nationalization of Mexican energy, as various media sources highlight the archaic nature
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SHALE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022
