By Richard Fausset and Tracy Wilkinson | Los Angeles Times
Mexico has taken a giant step toward the most radical opening of the country’s nationalized oil and gas industry in 75 years, a move analysts say could boost lagging petroleum production here and further cement North America’s new reputation as an energy-producing powerhouse.
Passage of a bill in the Mexican Senate was hailed this week by oil industry analysts and goes much further in the effort to attract outside investment to Mexico than a proposal originally introduced in August by President Enrique Peña Nieto’s centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. Peña Nieto praised the more vigorous measure Wednesday.
If it indeed attracts private industry that can help Mexico — the world’s ninth-largest oil producer — do a better job of extracting its reserves, the impact could be significant, adding to the boom in shale oil and gas production in the United States and Canada of recent years, and further redrawing the lines of energy production and consumption that tend to define geopolitical realities.
