BY E. EDUARDO CASTILLO
The Associated Press
thenews.com.mx
MEXICO CITY – Just hours after Senate passage, Congress’ lower house on Wednesday began a floor debate on legislation that would open Mexico’s state-run oil industry to private investment, rejecting an effort by leftist opponents to first have committees review the bill.
Senators voted 95-28 early in the day in favor of the most dramatic overhaul of the country’s oil sector in decades.
Two of the country’s three main parties are backing the bill, which would allow the government to grant contracts and licenses for exploration and extraction of oil and gas to multinational firms, something currently prohibited by Mexico’s constitution.
If the bill is passed by the lower house, it would then need to be approved by the legislatures of 17 of Mexico’s 31 states.
The energy law is the most important of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s reforms, which have also targeted education, the tax system and telecommunications. But the energy overhaul is considered crucial to the economy and the remaining five years of Peña Nieto’s presidency.
Opponents said the proposal would shift to a system that has been proven a “total failure.”
They argue that Mexico’s people should decide on such a big change.
Analysts contend Mexico needs to let in private investment to save its oil sector. While oil output has been rising in the U.S. and Canada, Mexico’s production has fallen 25 percent since 2004 despite increased investment. Pemex also has been unable to exploit the country’s deep-water deposits and shale oil and gas reserves.
Operations allowed by the proposal have been prohibited since 1938, when President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalized the oil industry, a step written into the constitution to protect the country from possible profiteering by foreign companies.
As of press time, deputies were still debating the bill.
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