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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
Lopez Obrador Vows to Block Opening of Mexico's Energy Industry
 Patrick Harrington - Bloomberg
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| "Our movement is obligated to play a very important role before the imminent decision of the usurping government and its allies to hand the oil industry over to foreigners."
- Lopez Obrador |
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a losing candidate in Mexico's presidential elections last year, called on thousands of supporters packing the capital's central square this week to organize street protests against a potential opening of the country's energy industry to private investment.
Lopez Obrador asked followers to demonstrate against an "imminent" plan by President Felipe Calderon to privatize the country's oil industry. Lopez Obrador today said he would propose his own plan to raise additional resources for state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.
Today's rally underscores the difficulty Calderon may face to boost investment in the energy industry. Lopez Obrador carried out two months of street protests last year after losing the presidential election.
"Our movement is obligated to play a very important role before the imminent decision of the usurping government and its allies to hand the oil industry over to foreigners," Lopez Obrador said today, according to the transcript. "Let's prepare ourselves to carry out acts of peaceful civil resistance in the whole country."
A message left for a presidential spokesman seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.
Untapped Reserves
Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas nationalized Mexico's oil and gas industries in 1938 and the country's constitution forbids foreign companies from extracting crude.
Calderon defeated Lopez Obrador in elections last year by less than 0.6 percentage point, the narrowest margin in history. An election court threw out fraud claims filed by Lopez Obrador.
In his Sept. 2 national address, Calderon, 45, said the country has proven reserves to last nine years. Venezuela, the second-biggest oil producer in Latin America, has reserves to keep pumping at current levels for more than a century.
Output in Mexico has dropped to a seven-year low of 3.12 million barrels a day as Pemex fails to develop new reserves to offset dwindling production at Cantarell, the world's largest offshore field.
Energy Minister Georgina Kessel said in an Oct. 25 speech that Pemex needs more investment in order to reach untapped reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. The technology needed to drill in deep water is akin "to sending a man into space," she said.
Today, Lopez Obrador accused Mexican officials of purposely depriving the state-controlled oil industry of funds in order to justify its sale.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Harrington in Mexico City at pharrington8@bloomberg.net |
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