Mexico Lower House Passes Oil Overhaul to End 75-Year State Monopoly Eric Martin and Adam Williams - Bloomberg
go to original December 12, 2013

Mexicans opposed to reform of the country's state-run oil industry have been protesting for months. They say reform would amount to a giveaway to private transnational firms - in particular US companies. Al Jazeera's Adam Raney reports from Mexico City. (Al Jazeera)

Mexico’s lower house passed an energy bill that ends Petroleos Mexicanos’s 75-year oil monopoly in a bid to attract foreign investment and boost growth.

Lawmakers approved the bill in general terms in a 354-134 vote late yesterday and continue to discuss minority-party challenges to specific articles. If these are rejected, the initiative will be sent to Mexico’s states, where it’s likely to receive approval from more than half of the legislatures, the threshold for changing the constitution.

The bill, passed by the Senate two days ago, would change Mexico’s charter to permit companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. to drill for oil for the first time since 1938. It would allow production sharing and licenses for outside companies that will also be able to log crude reserves for accounting purposes. Supporters say it will boost economic growth, while opponents say it will funnel the nation’s resource wealth to foreign investors.

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