Latin American Herald Tribune: The consortium that won two shallow-water exploration blocks in July’s first phase of Mexico’s historic Round One oil auction has signed the corresponding contracts with the government, officials said.
John Ashland Shepherd and Bill Moss, representatives of Houston-based oil company Talos Energy; Timothy Lloyd of Britain’s Premier Oil; and Salvador Beltran del Rio and Ivan Sandrea of Mexico’s Sierra Oil & Gas inked the contracts Friday on behalf of the consortium.
The MexicoBlog of the CIP Americas Program monitors and analyzes international press on Mexico with a focus on the US-backed War on Drugs in Mexico and the struggle in Mexico to strengthen the rule of law, justice and protection of human rights. Relevant political developments in both countries are also covered.
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Sep 7, 2015
Sep 1, 2015
Brazil And Mexico Vie for Cash From Oil Explorers in Price Rout
Bloomberg: Brazil and Mexico are preparing to compete for investments from some of the same oil majors when they hold auctions that are only a week apart at a time the price rout is prompting spending cuts.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Statoil ASA and Cnooc Ltd. have registered to compete for the next auctions in both Mexico and Brazil, scheduled for Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, respectively. Mexico has already sweetened terms for producers after the country’s first-ever auction on July 15 only drew bids for two of the 14 blocks for sale. Read more.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Statoil ASA and Cnooc Ltd. have registered to compete for the next auctions in both Mexico and Brazil, scheduled for Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, respectively. Mexico has already sweetened terms for producers after the country’s first-ever auction on July 15 only drew bids for two of the 14 blocks for sale. Read more.
Aug 24, 2015
Ship Belonging to Government-Seized Mexican Oil Services Firm Reported Missing
Latin American Herald Tribune: A ship considered key to the financial restructuring of Mexican oil services firm Oceanografia, which the government seized last year after it allegedly defrauded U.S. financial giant Citigroup’s local unit out of hundreds of millions of dollars, has gone missing, a judge said.
“The vessel Caballo Maya has been taken from its place of storage, and its whereabouts is unknown,” Mexico City-based federal Judge Felipe Consuelo, who is presiding over Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico-based Oceanografia’s bankruptcy proceedings, said Thursday. Read more.
“The vessel Caballo Maya has been taken from its place of storage, and its whereabouts is unknown,” Mexico City-based federal Judge Felipe Consuelo, who is presiding over Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico-based Oceanografia’s bankruptcy proceedings, said Thursday. Read more.
Jul 20, 2015
The good oil boys club
Peak Oil: It should have been a day of high excitement. A public auction on July 15th marked the end of a 77-year monopoly on oil exploration and production by Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company, and ushered in a new era of foreign investment in Mexican oil that until a few years ago was considered unimaginable.
The Mexican government had hoped that its first-ever auction of shallow-water exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico would successfully launch the modernisation of its energy industry. In the run-up to the bidding, Mexico had sought to be as accommodating as its historic dislike for foreign oil companies allowed it to be. Juan Carlos Zepeda, head of the National Hydrocarbons Commission, the regulator, had put a premium on transparency, saying there was “zero room” for favouritism. Read more.
The Mexican government had hoped that its first-ever auction of shallow-water exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico would successfully launch the modernisation of its energy industry. In the run-up to the bidding, Mexico had sought to be as accommodating as its historic dislike for foreign oil companies allowed it to be. Juan Carlos Zepeda, head of the National Hydrocarbons Commission, the regulator, had put a premium on transparency, saying there was “zero room” for favouritism. Read more.
Feb 23, 2015
Theft Surge Prompts Pemex to Halt Gasoline Shipments by Pipe
Bloomberg: Petroleos Mexicanos is losing so much money to people pilfering from its pipelines that the state-owned oil producer has decided to remove the temptation.
Pemex will stop using pipelines to transport refined fuel that can be put directly into engines, the Mexico City-based company said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. Instead, Pemex will remove a key chemical and use pipelines to send the partially processed gasoline and diesel to storage terminals, where the fuel will undertake final processing. Read more.
Pemex will stop using pipelines to transport refined fuel that can be put directly into engines, the Mexico City-based company said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. Instead, Pemex will remove a key chemical and use pipelines to send the partially processed gasoline and diesel to storage terminals, where the fuel will undertake final processing. Read more.
Jan 24, 2015
Mexico looks the other way as contractors fleece oil giant Pemex
Reuters: The state-owned petroleum giant Pemex paid $9 million in 2011 to have an oil rig towed halfway round the world, from the United Arab Emirates to the Gulf of Mexico. When government auditors looked at the contract, they turned up some problems.
The rig had the wrong equipment for the assignment, according to a report by Mexican congressional auditors. And the tow job itself was a fiction: The rig didn’t need to be moved. It was already in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more.
The rig had the wrong equipment for the assignment, according to a report by Mexican congressional auditors. And the tow job itself was a fiction: The rig didn’t need to be moved. It was already in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more.
Jan 23, 2015
Harper postpones Three Amigos summit amid chilly relations with U.S. and Mexico
The Globe And Mail: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has postponed the North American leaders’ summit with U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at a time when relations with both leaders are chilly.
The unexpected move allows Mr. Harper to avoid an awkward side-by-side news conference with Mr. Obama at a February summit that all three governments were expecting would be dominated by the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline – now at the top of the political agenda in Washington. Read more.
The unexpected move allows Mr. Harper to avoid an awkward side-by-side news conference with Mr. Obama at a February summit that all three governments were expecting would be dominated by the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline – now at the top of the political agenda in Washington. Read more.
Jan 2, 2015
Mexico's Light Crude, Shunned For U.S. Shale, Sails East
Reuters: Mexican crude oil is sailing to the U.S. East Coast at the highest rate in over a decade, according to customs data reviewed by Reuters, in a sign deepening discounts help crack open new markets as domestic shale inundates Texas.
Delta Air Lines-owned Monroe Energy received nearly 500,000 barrels of light-sour Mexican crude in September and a similar cargo in October at its 185,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. It was the refiner's first imports from Mexico since 2009, the furthest the data go back. Read more.
Delta Air Lines-owned Monroe Energy received nearly 500,000 barrels of light-sour Mexican crude in September and a similar cargo in October at its 185,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. It was the refiner's first imports from Mexico since 2009, the furthest the data go back. Read more.
Jan 1, 2015
Canadian Oil Boom Reaches U.S. Gulf, Puts Mexico on Defensive
Yahoo: A price war is brewing between Canada and Latin America over who will satisfy U.S. Gulf Coast refiners' hunger for heavy oil.
The new Seaway Twin pipeline will almost double the amount of heavy Canadian crude coming to Gulf terminals and plants to about 400,000 barrels a day starting in January, according to Calgary-based based ARC Financial Corp. The shipments are growing even without the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been delayed for six years because of environmental opposition. Read more.
The new Seaway Twin pipeline will almost double the amount of heavy Canadian crude coming to Gulf terminals and plants to about 400,000 barrels a day starting in January, according to Calgary-based based ARC Financial Corp. The shipments are growing even without the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been delayed for six years because of environmental opposition. Read more.
Dec 17, 2014
Oil price falls to lowest level in five years
BBC World: Oil prices fell to the lowest price of the last five years.
According to the reference, a barrel of Brent, the price is below $ 60 a barrel for the first time since July 2009.
Analysts say the slowdown in emerging economies has affected the demand in a time when supplies have increased.
The oil price has almost halved since hitting in June the maximum price of $ 115 per barrel.
Translation: Americas Program
Dec 14, 2014
Mexico unveils first phase of historic oil reform
AFP: Mexico unveiled rules Thursday for the first phase of its historic opening of the oil sector to foreign investors, pledging transparent auctions in July for 14 shallow-water fields.
The highly-anticipated guidelines were made public four months after Congress gave final approval to legislation allowing foreign companies to drill for oil for the first time since 1938. Read more.
The highly-anticipated guidelines were made public four months after Congress gave final approval to legislation allowing foreign companies to drill for oil for the first time since 1938. Read more.
Dec 8, 2014
Crude gas war pushes prices down, but not in Mexico
El Universal: The battle in the oil markets Producers Between two blocks is pushing prices down for the Consumers, According to George Baker, from Mexico Intelligence consulting company. For example, a regular gasoline in the US is selling for 2.71 dollars the gallon, ITS LOWEST level since 2010, as a result of the fall, According to data from the consulting company based in Houston, Texas.
But while Canada and the UK Also saw a fall in the prices, in Mexico the situation is different. Even if the Local crude ended Friday with a fall of 0.75 dollars, ending in 59.98 dollars per barrel, the policy of "gasolinazo", the monthly Increase to the price of gasoline, Applied since 2008, means That the price of regular gas ended in 13.31 pesos per liter, approximately 3.50 dollars per gallon. Read more.
But while Canada and the UK Also saw a fall in the prices, in Mexico the situation is different. Even if the Local crude ended Friday with a fall of 0.75 dollars, ending in 59.98 dollars per barrel, the policy of "gasolinazo", the monthly Increase to the price of gasoline, Applied since 2008, means That the price of regular gas ended in 13.31 pesos per liter, approximately 3.50 dollars per gallon. Read more.
Sep 28, 2014
Mexican cartels steal billions from oil industry
AP: Mexico overcame 75 years of nationalist pride to reform its flagging, state-owned oil industry. But as it prepares to develop rich shale fields along the Gulf Coast, and attract foreign investors, another challenge awaits: taming the brutal drug cartels that rule the region and are stealing billions of dollars' worth of oil from pipelines.
Figures released by Petroleos Mexicanos last week show the gangs are becoming more prolific and sophisticated. So far this year, thieves across Mexico have drilled 2,481 illegal taps into state-owned pipelines, up more than one-third from the same period of 2013. Pemex estimates it's lost some 7.5 million barrels worth $1.15 billion. Read More.
Figures released by Petroleos Mexicanos last week show the gangs are becoming more prolific and sophisticated. So far this year, thieves across Mexico have drilled 2,481 illegal taps into state-owned pipelines, up more than one-third from the same period of 2013. Pemex estimates it's lost some 7.5 million barrels worth $1.15 billion. Read More.
Jun 25, 2014
Violent Drug Cartels In Northern Mexico Threaten To Forestall Country's Fracking Boom
International Business Times: Violent drug cartels running rampant in northern Mexico are threatening to forestall the country’s much-anticipated fracking boom.
In a recent incident in Tamaulipas state, about 30 workers for oil and gas company Weatherford International were caught in the crossfire of gangs feuding for control of the U.S. drug market, Bloomberg News reported. Gunmen rolled up in a makeshift tank and blasted the hotel where the Weatherford workers were staying with bullets. The employees were forced to flee under police escort. Read more.
In a recent incident in Tamaulipas state, about 30 workers for oil and gas company Weatherford International were caught in the crossfire of gangs feuding for control of the U.S. drug market, Bloomberg News reported. Gunmen rolled up in a makeshift tank and blasted the hotel where the Weatherford workers were staying with bullets. The employees were forced to flee under police escort. Read more.
Oct 17, 2013
Oil: The Great Pitfall
By John Saxe - Fernández
Americas Program Original Translation
Diego Valadés, of the Institute of Legal Research of the
UNAM, warned the Senate about the risk involved in opening Pemex when Mexico is
part of NAFTA and could be forced to give preferential contracts to companies (U.S.),
or risk involvement in an international controversy if they refuse. The matter
takes on unusual importance and urgency if we consider that since October 2012
Mexico has been negotiating their participation in the Trans-Pacifc Partnership Agreement
(TPP) which, according to leaked documents, grants rights and privileges to
corporations in investment, land, natural resources, and industries in order to
disable state enterprises, with the intention to reverse the vast and dynamic geo-economic
and political projection of the Chinese state sector.
The notion of renegotiating the Mexico’s petro-electric
clause in NAFTA protected by Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution, had been
placed in Peña Nieto’s agenda by John D. Negroponte ( JDN ), U.S. ambassador
during the negotiation of NAFTA and former director of the National
Intelligence Council , governing body of imperial espionage . In October 2010
Negroponte said from Toluca that it was time to seek new ways of working
through the negotiation of a second phase (NAFTA) and that the... delicate
matter ... needed to be put on the table. He was referring to the energy sector,
a key card in the presidential succession processes for plundering the nation.
EPN came to Los Pinos at the culmination of the intentional weakening of Pemex started in 1983, so that by the end of 2011 and to the delight of the White House
and the greats (ExxonMobil, Chevron, etc.) during their U.S. tour, offered to
open the energy sector, endorsing U.S. business design and national security.
Aug 20, 2013
Fight over revered ex-president’s image dominates Mexico’s oil reform debate
The Washington Post
August 16, 2013
The son of Mexico’s most revered modern president, known for nationalizing Mexico’s oil industry, says his dad is rolling in his grave.
In fact, both sides in the heated debate over proposals to open Mexico’s oil industry to private companies are using the image of former president Lazaro Cardenas, roughly Mexico’s equivalent of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Current President Enrique Pena Nieto has launched a blitz of TV ads that prominently feature photos of Cardenas, who expropriated foreign oil companies and nationalized the industry when he was president from 1934 to 1940.
Like FDR, who was known for helping pull America out of the depression with his ‘new deal’ public works programs, Cardenas is remembered for handing out land to poor farmers and standing up to the foreign oil companies that once took the lion’s share of profits from Mexican oil. Read more.
August 16, 2013
The son of Mexico’s most revered modern president, known for nationalizing Mexico’s oil industry, says his dad is rolling in his grave.
In fact, both sides in the heated debate over proposals to open Mexico’s oil industry to private companies are using the image of former president Lazaro Cardenas, roughly Mexico’s equivalent of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Current President Enrique Pena Nieto has launched a blitz of TV ads that prominently feature photos of Cardenas, who expropriated foreign oil companies and nationalized the industry when he was president from 1934 to 1940.
Like FDR, who was known for helping pull America out of the depression with his ‘new deal’ public works programs, Cardenas is remembered for handing out land to poor farmers and standing up to the foreign oil companies that once took the lion’s share of profits from Mexican oil. Read more.
Leftist leader wants to repair, not privatize Mexico's oil industry
Los Angeles Times
By Tracy Wilkinson
August 19, 2013
Mexico’s most prestigious leftist leader on Monday challenged President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposal to open the national oil industry to private investment, setting the stage for what is sure to be a pitched political battle.
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas said the state oil monopoly, Pemex, is in dire need of repair, but that amending the Constitution, as Peña Nieto plans, is unnecessary and makes Mexico’s resources dangerously vulnerable to outside exploitation.
Instead, Cardenas offered an eight-point plan that would give Pemex financial and administrative autonomy, relieving it, he said, of the onerous state bureaucracy that cripples its ability to grow and become more efficient [link in Spanish]. The plan would also lower Pemex’s tax burden; currently, the company pays up to 70% of its revenue to the government. Read more.
By Tracy Wilkinson
August 19, 2013
Mexico’s most prestigious leftist leader on Monday challenged President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposal to open the national oil industry to private investment, setting the stage for what is sure to be a pitched political battle.
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas said the state oil monopoly, Pemex, is in dire need of repair, but that amending the Constitution, as Peña Nieto plans, is unnecessary and makes Mexico’s resources dangerously vulnerable to outside exploitation.
Instead, Cardenas offered an eight-point plan that would give Pemex financial and administrative autonomy, relieving it, he said, of the onerous state bureaucracy that cripples its ability to grow and become more efficient [link in Spanish]. The plan would also lower Pemex’s tax burden; currently, the company pays up to 70% of its revenue to the government. Read more.
Aug 14, 2013
Mexico's officials wage PR battle to sell energy reform plan
L.A. Times
By Tracy Wilkinson and Richard Fausset
August 13, 2013
Mexico City - The little boy with the twinkling eyes smiles out from full-page newspaper ads. His hands are held out for us to see, covered in black oil, an offshore platform floating in the sea behind him.
"Oil is and always will be ours," the ad proclaims in large capital letters.
The Mexican government may not be selling its gigantic state oil company, but officials are going full steam in selling what they plan to do with it.
On Tuesday, the day after President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled a broad package of energy-sector reforms, the government flooded the airwaves, newspapers and other media with slick messages defending the proposal. Government officials made the rounds of television and radio talk shows. Read more.
By Tracy Wilkinson and Richard Fausset
August 13, 2013
Mexico City - The little boy with the twinkling eyes smiles out from full-page newspaper ads. His hands are held out for us to see, covered in black oil, an offshore platform floating in the sea behind him.
"Oil is and always will be ours," the ad proclaims in large capital letters.
The Mexican government may not be selling its gigantic state oil company, but officials are going full steam in selling what they plan to do with it.
On Tuesday, the day after President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled a broad package of energy-sector reforms, the government flooded the airwaves, newspapers and other media with slick messages defending the proposal. Government officials made the rounds of television and radio talk shows. Read more.
Jun 26, 2013
Mexico's main leftist party proposes path to oil reform
Reuters
By Dave Graham
June 25, 2013
From the moment he took office in December, Pena Nieto has had to deny accusations he plans to privatize the company, repeatedly forcing him on the defensive over a reform his government plans to present by September at the latest.
Leading leftist politicians, such as Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the runner-up in the last two Mexican presidential elections, have pledged to oppose the reform vigorously.
Street protests are likely to be launched against the liberalization of Pemex in the coming weeks. Read more.
By Dave Graham
June 25, 2013
From the moment he took office in December, Pena Nieto has had to deny accusations he plans to privatize the company, repeatedly forcing him on the defensive over a reform his government plans to present by September at the latest.
Leading leftist politicians, such as Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the runner-up in the last two Mexican presidential elections, have pledged to oppose the reform vigorously.
Street protests are likely to be launched against the liberalization of Pemex in the coming weeks. Read more.
Mar 18, 2013
Mexico's leftist opposition rallies against energy reforms
Reuters
By David Alire Garcia
Mexico City, Mar 18, 2013
(Reuters) - Waving party flags and shouting their support, tens of thousands of leftist party members rallied on Sunday against government plans to overhaul Mexico's energy sector, a preview of the tough road ahead for President Enrique Pena Nieto's reform push.
Organized by the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, the rally took place on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the nationalization of the country's oil industry, the historical pivot that gave birth to state oil monopoly Pemex.
Speakers denounced any move to privatize the government-run oil giant, even though Pena Nieto and other members of his centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, have consistently denied any plans to sell or privatize Pemex.
"We are being loyal to this historical legacy that has given our oil riches to the nation and we are going to defend it with everything we've got," said Jesus Zambrano, the PRD's national president, to rousing applause. Read more.
By David Alire Garcia
Mexico City, Mar 18, 2013
(Reuters) - Waving party flags and shouting their support, tens of thousands of leftist party members rallied on Sunday against government plans to overhaul Mexico's energy sector, a preview of the tough road ahead for President Enrique Pena Nieto's reform push.
Organized by the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, the rally took place on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the nationalization of the country's oil industry, the historical pivot that gave birth to state oil monopoly Pemex.
Speakers denounced any move to privatize the government-run oil giant, even though Pena Nieto and other members of his centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, have consistently denied any plans to sell or privatize Pemex.
"We are being loyal to this historical legacy that has given our oil riches to the nation and we are going to defend it with everything we've got," said Jesus Zambrano, the PRD's national president, to rousing applause. Read more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)