Big oil companies turn their backs on Mexico

Mexico's dark years seem over.

Make no mistake, this is about oil, and how the large companies that in the previous government, that of Enrique Peña Nieto, agreed to tenders to dive into the deep waters of the Mexican Gulf in search of black gold, are fleeing.

The Shell company has renounced the contracts won then, for an exploitation period of more than 30 years, once less than optimistic prospects for the business were carried out.

That's what they said.

Shell disputed the largest part of the pie, until it won 12 contracts, exclusively or associated with the Mexican parastatal oil company, Pemex.

In 2018, the Anglo-Dutch firm spoke of investments of 800 million dollars, today only sea foam remains.

The deposits do not convince him and in his last resignation before the National Hydrocarbons Commission he abandons 3,000 square kilometers on the salt waters in front of Veracruz and Tabasco.

The scare is being analyzed by said commission in case there are any fines.

There are those who do not believe that the oil company's solvent technical teams did not identify in advance the poor prospects of the fields, and suspect that other conditions are what prompted them to abandon ship.

“Shell's most ambitious exploratory program”, as they described it, has come to nothing and other companies such as Repsol or BP are following the same path.

The bad image that Pemex projects has to do with the stampede.

The state oil company, once the source that quenched all of Mexico's thirst, is now a ruinous business that cannot get out of debt.

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has changed the strategy and instead of advancing in prospecting and exploitation in association with private firms, he has opted for oil refining, which is also not being effective in getting out of the crisis. to the parastatal, sunk by corruption and legal plunder based on taxes that fattened the PRI governments.

The risk agency Moody's has this month cut the rating of Pemex, the most indebted oil company in the world, with 106 billion dollars, also due to its stagnant production.

Despite everything, the parastatal is fleeing forward, taking on new risks such as refining, to name just one.

There is, therefore, no successful model in which to look.

If Pemex cannot pay suppliers, how will it do so for the barrels extracted by private companies.

Fossil fuel has no promising future almost anywhere.

The Mexican president has been repeatedly criticized for his efforts in these fields and refineries instead of focusing on renewable energies.

Mexico has taken a turn in this six-year term with respect to the treatment of private energy companies and it is reasonable to think that they will not be able to sell at as good a price as they previously expected.

López Obrador's government is more in favor of nationalizing - that is, limiting the private participation of large companies - in strategic sectors, such as electricity or oil, which, naturally, makes the ground shake under its feet. of energy investors.

Probably, they are not convinced by the prices, but neither is the government, and the next elections do not predict any major changes.

The replacement for Andrés Manuel López Obrador currently has a great advantage in the polls to become the next president.

Claudia Sheinbaum has promised to follow in the footsteps of her mentor, that is, to consolidate the policies undertaken in this Administration.

Exploring in deep waters is neither easy nor cheap, but experts are surprised by how the days of wine and roses back then have become in just a few years, with the exploratory work barely completed - not all, the National Hydrocarbons Commission has already imposed some sanctions for non-compliance - in an unfathomable pit for companies, which prefer to undertake, but flee.

Here you can consult the latest Letters from the correspondent

Follow all the information on

Economy

and

Business

on

Facebook

and

X

, or in our

weekly newsletter

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I am already a subscriber

_