Russians are the first to benefit from PEMEX reforms

Guadalajara -
When Mexico opened the doors of its national oil company, PEMEX, to private capital investment and foreign technical participation in December, almost everyone predicted that the first to take advantage of the new laws would be U.S. and European petroleum giants. That's not what happened.

Before president Enrique Peña Nieto departed the 2014 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday, he and his PRI administration team signed a contract with Russian oil monolith Lukoil (Лукойл), which operates in more than 40 countries and is purportedly the second largest public petroleum company after ExxonMobil in proven oil and gas reserves worldwide.

The director general of PEMEX said in Davos the agreement's objective is to "exchange experience and knowledge with respect to the exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources" under Mexican soil and seas. Mexico has an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil and 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which were beyond the financial capacity and technical expertise of PEMEX to extract on its own. In reality, that "exchange of experience and knowledge" will be unidirectional, from Lukoil to PEMEX. The contract is only the first of several which Mexico is expected to sign this year with major international oil producers, presumably in exchange for a percentage of recovered petroleum products.

Lukoil has considerable experience in the exploration of deep water hydrocarbon reserves coupled with a demonstrated track record in environmental protection, according to a PEMEX statement.

"With the signing of this agreement, PEMEX will enhance its operational and technical abilities, with the goal of taking advantage of the recently enacted energy reforms," said a company spokesman. "But this is just the first step to increase our ability to deal directly with world petroleum markets."

PEMEX was established 76 years ago, when president Lázaro Cárdenas nationalized the Mexican petroleum industry on March 18, 1938, expelling foreign oil companies from the country and seizing their assets. Until the reforms, which required amending several provisions of the federal constitution, the company was a strict state monopoly. The amendments flew through Mexico's federal congress and 32 state legislatures in record time, and won Peña Nieto praise at home and abroad. Legislation and administrative regulations designed to implement the reforms are now being drafted and debated.

Aug. 13, 2014 - Mexican PEMEX legislation reserves for nation 83% of its proven petrol resources

2013 energy reforms and PEMEX
Dec. 23 - Mexican energy reforms will lure in $10 billion dollars in immediate investment
Dec. 21 - Mexico's sovereign credit rating upgraded on PEMEX reform news
Dec. 20 - PEMEX reforms are now officially the law
Dec. 19 - U.S. Senate approves transborder oil exploration bill
Dec. 18 - Not much democracy in "Democratic" Revolution Party
Dec. 16 - San Luis Potosí puts PEMEX reforms over the top
Dec. 15 - Jalisco and all of Yucatán peninsula approve PEMEX reforms
Dec. 13 - Mexican states rush to endorse PEMEX reforms
Dec. 11 - Mexico's Chamber of Deputies wastes no time, approves PEMEX reforms
Dec. 11 - Mexico's PEMEX: senators open the door to foreign expertise and private capital
Dec. 10 - Mexican leftists go to court to stop PEMEX reforms
Nov. 30 - As energy reform vote approaches, PRD exits Pact for Mexico
Sept. 23 - Energy reform debate opens in Mexican Senate; warnings of foreign takeover of PEMEX
Sept. 21 - "The fix is in" on energy reform, says AMLO: new laws "designed for foreign business"
Sept. 20 - Without energy reform, Mexico will need more than half a century to reach U.S. output

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