Mexico Hopes to Revive Oil Production in New Fields

Mexico has announced the allocation of more than 170 new sites for oil and gas development in an area in the country’s northeast region. This comes at a time when production at the country’s main field is falling dramatically, leading some analysts to say that the oil exporter could become an oil importer within five years. At least one Mexican governor is disputing that grim vision and calling for more investment in energy development.

Coming before an audience of energy industry representatives and academics at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, the governor of Mexico’s Veracruz state, Fidel Herrera Beltran, hailed the new opening in his nation’s oil sector.

“It is a great time to invest in Mexico in areas that were closed or not open before,” said Fidel Herrera Beltran.

Beltran said an energy reform bill passed by the Mexican Congress last year after heated debate has opened the way to some limited partnerships with foreign companies in Mexico’s oil and gas fields. The Mexican constitution establishes all energy resources as state owned and, until now, the government-owned oil company, Pemex, has offered only contract work to outside companies.

Voice of America