Petroleum Sector Investment

Governance in the Mexican Petroleum Industry: Assessing prospects of reform.

The Mexican petroleum industry has not developed to its capacity and influential actors in and outside the government blame a governance structure that lacks the mandate for accountability, transparency and to create value. Proposals for transformation have emerged, and range from suggestions for minor reform in the regulatory framework to recommending quasi-absolute autonomy (from the government) for the petroleum sector. However, while it is true that there is room for improvement within the current arrangement, there are important obstacles for change. Issues like high dependence on petroleum-related revenue to sustain the Federal budget, make transformation challenging. Nonetheless, reform is ranking high in the public policy agenda. Therefore, it is fundamental to provide: a description of the current governance structure and a diagnosis of its shortcomings, an analysis of the agendas and proposals of interest groups pushing for change, and an assessment of the possible scenarios and pitfalls of reform.

Research contact Pedro Gomez

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