Mexico Energy Day - Energy Reform in Mexico

The IEF was honoured to receive HE Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico at its Headquarters on Sunday 17 January 2016 for meetings on Energy Reform in Mexico. President Peña Nieto visited the IEF in the course of his State Visit to Saudi Arabia, the first time that a Mexican President has visited Saudi Arabia in over forty years. The President was accompanied by an impressive delegation of Ministers and senior officials, including HE Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, Secretary of Energy,  HE Claudia Ruiz Massieu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Aurelio Nuño Mayer, Minister of Public Education, HE Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Secretary of the Economy, and HE Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Secretary of Communications and Transport. Mr Emilio Lozoya Austin, CEO of Mexico’s national oil company, PEMEX, also participated in the meetings at the IEF.

IEF Secretary General Aldo Flores-Quiroga and Saudi Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources HE Ali Al Naimi welcomed President Peña Nieto on his first visit to the IEF. The Mexico Energy Day was attended by members of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council as well as CEOs and senior representatives from a broad cross-section of Saudi commercial concerns.

In his opening remarks [Full text available for download below] Secretary General, Aldo Flores-Quiroga noted that “when Mexico is in motion, markets take note” and recognised that the game-changing energy reforms that have been enacted under Peña Nieto's Presidency reinforced Mexico’s historical leading role in the sector.

Minister Ali Al Naimi noted the importance of dialogue recalling that "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Mexico have endeavored not only to create cooperation ties among oil producing nations, but also to create effective cooperation among oil producing and consuming countries… One of its fruits was the International Energy Forum, which brings together major oil producing and consuming nations.” [Full text available for download below].

President Pena Nieto’s address recognised the complexities of the current market situation and stressed the importance of cooperation between producers and consumers;  "Dialogue is essential to promote a global energy market that is stable, reliable, open and efficient, inclusive and sustainable.” The President also laid out 10 highlights of the “Energy Reform in Mexico” stressing that through this reform: “Mexico wants to participate responsibly in the world’s energy development, especially on the basis of the structural changes we have achieved."

"10 Energy Reform Highlights: 

[Read the original article in Spanish on the website of the Mexican Government]

1. Mexico offers, particularly today, opportunities in key sectors for development in telecommunications, infrastructure and energy.
2. In the 80s, Mexico exported raw materials: nearly 70 percent of exports involved oil and mining, and 20 percent manufacturing. In 2015, 89 percent of exports were manufacturing, while petroleum and mining accounted for only 8 percent. Nowadays, manufactured goods also have a higher added value.
3. Energy Reform created a new model of markets in the sector, characterised by openness, competition and global integration. Investors can participate in exploration, extraction and manufacturing projects, as well as transport, storage and marketing services.
4. In 2015 the first three tenders in this sector were held, in keeping with the highest standards of legal certainty and transparency.
5. 30 contracts were assigned to national and international companies, giving rise to a new energy industry in Mexico.
6. The blocks and fields to be tendered in the next five years were announced.
7. A large market of petroleum products and petrochemicals will be created; while additional opportunities for investment in pipelines, storage terminals and distribution systems will be created.
8. Private companies will be able to generate and sell power on the new Mexican electricity market. There are unprecedented opportunities for investing in cleaner, renewable sources such as solar, wind or geothermal energy.
9. Mexico is working to become a bridge to connect the energy markets of North America, Latin America and Asia. By 2018, there will be seven gas interconnection bridges with the United States, while efforts are being made to develop pipeline to connect us with Central America.
10. There are currently 11 electrical interconnections with the United States and two in Central America, and new cross-border interconnections are being evaluated. Leading-edge logistic-energy infrastructure is being built to link the Pacific with the Atlantic.

That is the way to achieve energy security and essential for the balanced development of humankind environmental sustainability."

Later in the day Lourdes Melgar, Mexico’s Vice-Minister of Hydrocarbons and Victor Luque, Director General for State Productive Enterprises delivered a presentation on “Mexico’s New Energy Industry: Investing in the Transformation” [available for download below] to an attentive audience at IEF headquarters.

The full text of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s speech (in Spanish) is available for download below and can be read on the official website of the Mexican Presidency - Palabras del Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, licenciado Enrique Peña Nieto, durante el evento Reforma Energética de México

Key Links

• Official website of the Mexican Presidency
• President Enrique Peña Nieto’s speech on the official website of the Mexican Presidency
• President Peña Nieto’s Facebook page on the event
• Secretary of Energy Joaquin Coldwell’s Facebook page