Mexico pitches energy reform
SMU was one of the stops for Mexican Congressman Javier Treviño Cantu as he traveled Texas recently to tout the historic nature of his country’s decision to open up its oil sector.
By JAMES OSBORNE
Staff Writer
Javier Treviño Cantu, a Mexican congressman and close ally of President Enrique Peña Nieto, has spent much of the last month traveling Texas to tout the historic nature of his country’s decision to open up its oil sector. But he admits Mexico has a ways to go yet.
“There are many opportunities in the world, between South America and Africa and the Arctic,” he said. “So how are we able to attract the oil companies? That’s going to be the key challenge.”
More than a month after Mexico’s Congress passed a series of historic constitutional amendments to open up its energy sector to foreign investment, the country is trying to sell the changes to U.S. companies that remain both eager and skeptical of their prospects south of the border.
Earlier this week, Gustavo Madero, president of the National Action Party, and Jesús Reyes Heroles, former CEO of the national oil company Pemex, appeared before oil executives and attorneys in Houston to explain the developments expected in the months ahead.
Treviño, a leading force within the Institutional Revolutionary Party, has been to Texas three times since the vote. He mixes private meetings with industry insiders with public events like a speech at SMU on Friday. The message is Mexico is open for business and committed to creating a legal structure that will be attractive to foreign oil companies.