As Mexico is about to open its oil industry up to foreign
investment, it will need penalties for negligence and regulations that force
private firms to follow best practices in order to avoid problems like oil
spills, analysts say.
On
Dec. 10 and11, the Mexican Congress
approved the constitutional reform opening oil exploration, extraction,
refining, transportation, distribution and sale of oil and its by-products to
local and foreign private investment.
It is a decision that
dismantles the very foundations of the 1938 nationalization of the oil
industry.
“This
is a good opportunity for the Mexican state to build a robust regulatory
framework and above all to develop the capacity to penalize opportunistic or
negligent behavior,” said José del Tronco, a professor at the Latin American
Faculty of Social Sciences.
The expert said that if
oil and gas production are stepped up, greater prevention of risks is needed,
and companies should incorporate the environmental and human costs of their
activities.
Congress
passed the reform of articles 25, 27 and 28 of the constitution, making it
possible for the government to sign service, production and profit-sharing contracts with private firms.
The reform also allows
the government to grant permits or concessions for the exploration and
exploitation of oil blocs , a mechanism used in countries like Argentina,
Ecuador, Peru and the United States.
The corporations will
also be able to store, transport and sell oil products, which effectively breaks down the monopoly of
the state-run Pemex oil company.
But Pemex, also a
multinational corporation, will be just one more contractor, and will not
maintain control over the activity or over the contracts with new operators,
which will fall under the authority of the energy ministry.
The regulatory
framework, Tronco said, would have to be very different than when it was only
necessary to exercise oversight over one company governed by local rules.
Multiple operators will participate in a range of activities, and controls and
oversight will be hindered without clear rules that take into account
international legislation.
In case Pemex commits
breach of contract, the companies will be able to turn to international dispute
settlement bodies, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
panel procedures or the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The full extent of the
reform will be defined by secondary laws that lawmakers will draft in the next
few months, and by regulations to be put in place by the government.
The reform was approved
in a record 80 hours by the legislatures of 17 of the country’s 31 states, which
was needed to enshrine it in the constitution.
Now it has been sent
back to Congress for final ratification, before president Enrique Peña Nieto
signs it into law.
“International
experiences are not encouraging,” Greenpeace Mexico spokesman Raúl Estrada said.
“It isn’t clear how the people will benefit from throwing the industry open.
“They say it will draw
investment, and that the investment will be spent on the secondary effects of
the reform,” such as oil spills and pollution, he said.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario