Mexico should hold no further new oil auctions, though tie-ups with private investors in oil extraction or refining remain possible provided this does not affect the national interest, a memorandum by the country’s president said.
Dated July 22, the 8-page memorandum seen by Reuters set out President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s priorities in Mexico’s energy sector, and broadly reflected what the veteran leftist has said publicly since taking office in December 2018.
“As we have said, the concessions of the so-called [tender] rounds for oil production should be respected, without new auctions being called,” the memorandum said.
Lopez Obrador argues that past governments skewed the energy sector in favor of private interests at the expense of national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), state power firm the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), and taxpayers.
The president has vowed to revive both firms, and in the memorandum said hydroelectric power produced by the CFE should be given top priority in supplying the national power system, followed by electricity generated by the CFE’s other plants.
Next in the order of precedence should be solar and wind power produced by private firms, and then electricity generated by privately-run combined cycle plants, the document said.
All forms of subsidy provided to private sector power producers should be ended, the memorandum said.
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