CALGARY, AB June 2, 2014 – Canadian resource companies face a broad palette of opportunities helping Mexico move beyond its 75-year state energy monopoly and open up to private investment, an expert panel agreed today.
High ranking Mexican officials met with Canadian industry leaders and government officials at Calgary’s Petroleum Club to discuss the historic reforms, which are scheduled to roll out later this year. Presenters included the man responsible for overseeing the reforms, Leonardo Beltran, the Under Secretary for Planning and Transition in Mexico’s Secretariat for Energy.
This event, sponsored by the Canada West Foundation, is the first time the deregulation has been marketed by Mexico officials outside of their country.
“There is a strong desire to bring in successful models and that is how Mexico and frankly most energy professionals, on a relative global comparative basis, view Canada,” said Carlo Dade, Director of the Foundation’s Centre for Trade & Investment Policy.
The reforms will allow private companies to form joint ventures with Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) for the first time since the state-owned company was formed in 1938. Production has been declining for a decade and recent reports indicate oil shipments to the United States have fallen to their lowest level in 20 years.
The audience heard that the country’s oil and gas industry faces technological challenges which have left Mexico’s shale resources largely untapped. Its petroleum industry needs highly skilled workers, engineers and diverse specialists. Alberta has hundreds oil and gas services companies that can meet the Mexican petroleum industry needs, from the exploration and production process, such as fracking, to the transportation network, such as pipelines.
The Canada West Foundation and the Institute for Competitiveness in Mexico also today released an analysis of the reforms, Potential Impacts and Opportunities from Mexico’s Energy Reform for Western Canada.