Oil Industry Headlines: Week of April 5
In an effort to offset rapid declines from its most prolific oilfield, Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon sent an energy bill to the Senate aimed at reforming it’s state oil company, Pemex. Current laws divert most of Pemex’s revenue to Mexico’s federal budget, leaving the company with little to invest in future projects. Decades of operation in accordance with the laws have resulted in massive underinvestment, leaving Mexico with declining fields that are expected to run dry in approximately 10 years. Calderon’s proposed bill would allow Pemex more control over how revenues are spent and the authority to contract with private firms. The bill is now awaiting a Congressional vote, where it needs the support of a simple majority for approval.
In Iraq, a “parliamentary committee is working on a pair of oil-related draft bills, one to re-establish the state-run oil company and another to fight oil smuggling,” reported Sinan Salaheddin of the Associated Press. According to Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani, deputy chairman of the committee on oil, gas and natural resources, smuggling accounts for roughly $5 billion in lost oil revenues annually. The new anti-smuggling bill would call for “tight penalties against oil smugglers ranging from fines to years in prison and confiscation of boats that are used for smuggling.”
Published Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 8:35 am and filed under Industry News.