Mexico opens oil and gas industries to private investors

Global Business

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto on Monday signed historic legislation opening Mexico’s state-controlled oil, gas and electricity industries to foreign and private companies. 

It’s being called a major leap forward for the Mexican economy. CCTV America’s Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.

Mexico opens oil and gas industries to private investors

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto on Monday signed historic legislation opening Mexico's state-controlled oil, gas and electricity industries to foreign and private companies. It's being called a major leap forward for the Mexican economy. CCTV America's Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.

Observers and historians are calling this Mexico’s most important economic change since the North American Free Trade Agreement. All the rules and regulations are now in place. And for the first time in more than 75 years, Mexico’s state-run oil company will no longer have a monopoly on crude production. With the energy reforms now the law of the land, major global oil corporations are eyeing the Mexican-U.S. maritime boundary, which could hold from 10 to 30 billion barrels of offshore oil reserves.

The president and his supporters say, because the Mexican economy really needs a boost and energy reform, the move will have a positive impact. Conservative lawmakers in the United States have argued that wars are being fought in the Middle East over oil. Now, Mexico will play a key role in regional energy security, which is good for the United States.

For more on this historic reform, CCTV America spoke to Carl Larry, President of Oil Outlooks and Opinions.