Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
Photographer: Alfredo Estrella / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Alfredo Estrella / AFP / Getty Images
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador unveiled a bill Friday that seeks to give state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos more control over fuel prices, circulation, imports and marketing, his spokesman said. .
The proposal would change the country’s hydrocarbon law to allow the Ministry of Energy and the main regulator to suspend licenses “with the aim of promising the country’s interests,” according to a version seen by Bloomberg News.
It will also allow the state’s oil company, called Pemex, to take control of facilities whose licenses have been revoked.
The bill was submitted to the head of the lower house on Friday and will be debated in the chamber next week, President’s spokesman Jesus Ramirez said in a phone interview.
If passed, the measure would be the biggest reversal yet to hydrocarbon reforms that completed the state’s oil monopoly in 2013 and 2014. Since taking office in 2018, the president has been seeks to signal the opening of Mexico’s energy industry to private- investments in the region.
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The courts have thwarted Lopez Obrador ‘s previous efforts to reassert the state’ s dominance in the energy market. Earlier this month a judge blocked an unlimited law that would give state companies priority over private companies in the electricity market.
The president said earlier this month he would seek to push for constitutional reform if his efforts were thwarted.
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With the advent of competition, Pemex lost a large share of the market, with foreign companies importing more diesel than the state giant for the first time in June last year. Pemex has also struggled with the debt burden and recession in the long run.
Spokespeople for the Ministry of Energy and Pemex did not respond to requests for comment. Senate leader Ricardo Monreal’s office said it had not seen the bill.
– Supported by Michael O’Boyle, Cyntia Aurora Barrera Diaz, and Amy Stillman