President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico has assured oil and gas executives he will honor existing contracts, according to the chief executive of a Canadian company specializing in onshore Mexican operations.
At a meeting of AMEXHI, an association of oil and gas producers, Lopez Obrador stressed the importance of private-company participation in oil and gas development and future production, reported Craig Steinke, chief executive officer of Renaissance Oil Corp., Vancouver, BC.
Renaissance has interests in the Chicontepec trend of east-central governMexico and in the Chiapas-Tabasco onshore producing region (OGJ Online, Aug. 30, 2016).
Before his election, Lopez Obrador had been critical of energy- law reform, made by outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto, that opened Mexican exploration and development to private and foreign investment. Concern has arisen about how the government will treat contracts after Lopez Obrador takes office Dec. 1 and whether it will remain committed to reform (OGJ Online, July 2, 2018).
Renaissance Oil, which belongs to the association at which Lopez Obrador spoke, said in a press release that the new president’s designation of Rocio Nahle as energy ministers “confirmed the incoming administration’s support for the contracts as well as a commitment to resolving regulatory delays.”
Steinke said, “Renaissance is reassured by these developments and encouraged that the Mexican government is supportive of the important role international oil companies, like Renaissance, play in the development of the Mexican petroleum industry.”