Mexico poised to open oil and gas markets for first time since 1938

For the first time in 74 years, Mexico may allow private investment in its oil and gas, the third-largest reserves in Latin America, Bloomberg reports. Enrique Pena Nieto, the leader in all major polls to win the July 1 presidential election and a member of the party that nationalized the industry in 1938, stirred up speculation on April 12 when he said that Mexico’s oil production “can outperform and grow” through private investment. The same day, his closest rival, Josefina Vazquez Mota, proposed to list “a minority stake” in state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, which has $126 billion in revenue. Selling shares in the largest oil supplier to the United States will open a Mexican industry experiencing an eighth year of declining output, hurt by faltering investment and lack of technology and experience for the deepest offshore wells. The cash can fund Gulf of Mexico and shale gas production using techniques Brazil and the United States employed to revolutionize their energy markets. “The taboo has been broken” on private investment, Pemex board member Hector Moreira says. “People talking about private stakes—it’s a first step. And it’s a step that’s not prompting a negative reaction from the public.” Get the full story here.