PE Live: Safeguarding Mexican investment
The suspension of licensing rounds may have disappointed the private sector. But international treaties offer crucial protection against further unwinding of the country’s energy reforms
Mexico’s appetite for foreign investment has changed dramatically since the landmark energy reforms that began in late 2013. Bidding rounds opened the door to a wave of IOCs eager to participate in the country’s upstream, ending almost 80 years of state-controlled monopoly. But since the inauguration of President Andres Lopez Obrador in late 2018, operators have faced a very different government stance. Licensing rounds, immediately frozen by Lopez Obrador, are still suspended and his administration remains critical of contracts previously signed with IOCs. Citing energy security concerns, the Lopez Obrador government has promised to maintain restrictions on future licensing rounds until ope
Also in this section
10 March 2026
By shutting the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has cut exports of distillate-rich Middle Eastern crude, jet fuel and diesel, and is holding the energy market hostage
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
