Thousands protest Mexico energy reform plan

Sun Apr 27, 2008 1:56pm EDT

MEXICO CITY, April 27 (Reuters) - Thousands of people, some dressed in oil worker jumpsuits, protested a Mexican energy reform proposal on Sunday that leftists say is a veiled attempt to privatize the cherished state industry.

Decrying government plans to allow more private investment in state-run oil monopoly Pemex [PEMX.UL], protesters carried signs saying "This is a holdup" and showed pictures of President Felipe Calderon holding a gas pump like a gun.

Mexico is the world's sixth-largest producer of crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the No. 3 supplier of oil to the United States.

Police said some 15,000 people marched through central Mexico City to the massive Zocalo square, led by leftist firebrand Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who narrowly lost the presidency to Calderon in 2006.

Takeover of Mexican Congress enters second week, causes country international embarrassment

By E. Eduardo Castillo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:42 p.m. April 17, 2008

MEXICO CITY – A weeklong blockade of Congress by leftist lawmakers not only is stalling urgent energy reforms – it's also getting downright embarrassing, Mexico's foreign minister said Thursday.

The administration of President Felipe Calderón showed signs of dwindling patience after congressional leaders were forced to withdraw an invitation for Indian President Pratibha Patil to address a session of Congress.

“Without doubt, it makes us look bad as a country,” Foreign Relations Secretary Patricia Espinosa said.

Lawmakers opposed to the oil reform chained shut the doors of the Congress building, and their supporters blocked senators from entering an alternative hall where they have been meeting since their headquarters were taken over by opponents last week.

Mexico protests snag government's oil reform plans

By Catherine Bremer

REUTERS

10:07 a.m. April 15, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Mexican leftists have stormed Congress and taken to the streets in a campaign that could force President Felipe Calderón to dilute his plans to allow foreign companies a bigger role in the oil industry.

Calderón had hoped to rush through a law this month to boost private investment in the oil sector to help Mexico seek new crude reserves in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

He has the backing of some opposition members in the divided Congress but a backlash of left-wing protests has now delayed a vote until after this month.

Even Calderón's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, admits the bill, which makes it easier for state oil firm Pemex to ally with private firms in the search for oil, will not be voted on before Congress breaks for the summer April 30.

Leftist lawmakers from the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, have seized the podiums of both houses of Congress and are even sleeping there to prevent a quick debate and vote on the bill.

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Mexican lawmakers shift sessions to alternate location as protests block chambers

By Mark Stevenson

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:12 p.m. April 15, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Both houses of Mexico's Congress had to find new homes on Tuesday, avoiding a clash with left-leaning legislators who blockaded their chambers to hold off the president's energy reform bill.

Senate leader Santiago Creel said it was the first time in recent history that the body had been forced to hold sessions away from its ornate chambers. The last time the lower house abandoned its halls was in 1989, because of a fire.

Lawmakers from the leftist Democratic Revolution Party seized the podiums of both houses on Thursday and set up a round-the-clock protest of President Felipe Calderón's proposal to ease limits on private involvement in oil exploration and production.

The protesters say that will lead to selling off part of Mexico's state oil company and they demand a national debate on the bill before it is considered by Congress.

The Senate held a brief, largely symbolic session in a cramped auditorium just down the street from the Senate building. Creel said the move preserved the dignity of the Senate and “averted the risk of violence in the congressional chambers.”

Mexico oil reform stalls as leftist lawmakers barricade Congress

By E. Eduardo Castillo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
4:13 p.m. April 14, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Leftist lawmakers erected makeshift barricades Monday around the podium in Mexico's lower house of Congress, where they have been camped out for more than five days to protest the president's oil reform proposal.

They piled heavy chairs around the speaker's platform, while their colleagues in the Senate began fasting to demand that Congress schedule a 4-month national debate on the energy bill backed by President Felipe Calderón. They have not said what such a debate would entail.

Seeking to end the takeover, senators with Calderón's National Action Party, or PAN, and the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, offered later Monday to compromise and debate the issue for 50 days.

“The uninterrupted 50-day term is broad enough for everyone to be heard,” said PRI Sen. Manlio Fabio Beltrones. The Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which is leading the protests, did not immediately respond.

The coordinator for the PAN in the Senate, Santiago Creel, said it was unlikely Congress would be able to approve the bill by April 30, when the legislative session ends.

Oil production in Mexico, one of the top suppliers to the United States, is declining, and reform advocates say state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, needs outside resources to explore for reserves. The bill would allow Pemex to partner with private companies for exploration and refining.

Opponents claim the bill would lead toward selling off parts of Pemex and threaten national sovereignty.

Leftists take over both chambers of Mexican Congress

By Jessica Bernstein-Wax

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:08 p.m. April 10, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Leftist lawmakers took over both chambers of Mexico's Congress on Thursday to protest President Felipe Calderón's energy reform bill.

Lawmakers of the Democratic Revolution Party stormed the podiums and forced a recess in both the Senate and lower house of Congress at about 1 p.m. (2 p.m. EDT, 1800 GMT). Some donned oil worker hard hats and shouted, “The country is not for sale!”

The takeover interrupted Senate debate on a routine measure allowing Calderón to travel to the United States for an April 21-22 summit of North American leaders in New Orleans.

The leftist lawmakers say Calderón's energy reforms would open Mexico's national oil company to private investment and would threaten the country's sovereignty.

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Mexico lawmakers vow to keep up protest in Congress until oil reform debated

By Jessica Bernstein-Wax

ASSOCIATED PRESS

12:21 p.m. April 11, 2008

MEXICO CITY – Leftist lawmakers who seized both chambers of Mexico's Congress said Friday they will not move until winning a national debate on an oil reform bill backed by President Felipe Calderón.

Legislators from the Democratic Revolution Party and two minor parties stormed the podiums of both the Senate and the lower house of Congress on Thursday to protest the bill, which they say would open the door to selling off parts of the state-run industry.

A small group of lawmakers spent the night there in blankets and sleeping bags and took turns guarding the podiums, which were draped in signs accusing Calderón of trying to privatize the industry. Mexico's oil reserves were nationalized in 1938.

“We're going to stay here as long as we need to,” Democratic Revolution Rep. Alejandro Sanchez said in a telephone interview Friday. He added that party members were bringing sandwiches and drinks to prepare for what could be a long encampment.

Battle brews over future of Mexican oil

by Chris Hawley - Apr. 8, 2008 12:00 AM

Republic Mexico City Bureau

MEXICO CITY - The cartoon in a recent newspaper said it all: A sinking ship labeled "Mexico" hangs underwater, tied to a floating oil barrel, as a hand holding scissors prepares to cut the cord.

Mexico is in an uproar over President Felipe Calderón's effort to reform the state oil monopoly, whose sales have long kept the government budget afloat as well as supplying a big chunk of the United States' energy needs.

Protesters are threatening to seize oil refineries, block highways and shut down airports. The Popular Revolutionary Army, a guerrilla group known for bomb attacks, has vowed to cripple the company if the government opens it to foreign investment. About 28,000 activists have joined "brigades" to carry out civil disobedience.

Any disruption of oil exports could be a big blow to Americans already reeling from high fuel prices. Mexico is the United States' third-biggest supplier of oil after Canada and Saudi Arabia.

The opposition is also the most serious challenge yet to Calderón, who had been on a roll since taking office in December 2006. He has coaxed opposition lawmakers into supporting overhauls of Mexico's tax code, legal system and government retirement plan. But energy reform is an even bigger powder keg.

Output is declining rapidly, but national pride and politics may block possible fixes.

MEXICO CITY -- With crude oil topping $95 a barrel, these should be heady days for Petroleos Mexicanos. Mexico's state-owned oil monopoly, known as Pemex, generated record revenue of about $100 billion in 2007.

But at a ceremony marking the 69th anniversary of the nationalization of Mexico's oil industry last year, Pemex General Director Jesus Reyes Heroles wasn't in a celebratory mood.


"The situation of Petroleos Mexicanos is critical and merits immediate attention," the company's top executive said.

Indeed, 2007 tapped a gusher of concerns for the world's sixth-largest oil producer.

Pemex managed to lose $1.2 billion in the third quarter. Output is declining, as are exports and proven reserves. Mexican Energy Secretary Georgina Kessel said last month that Mexico's crude production, which averaged about 3.1 million barrels a day in 2007, could fall as much as one-third in less than a decade if the nation didn't move fast to reverse the slide.

The consequences could be painful, not only for Mexico, which relies on oil revenue to fund about 40% of its federal spending, but also for world markets, which are feeling the pinch of tight supplies. Mexico is the No. 2 provider of petroleum to the United States, behind Canada.

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Pemex May Be Turning From Gusher To Black Hole

Mexico's oil giant forks over so much money to the state that it's deeply in debt, and a price drop could set off a crisis

World oil prices are at near-record highs, and Mexico is pumping and exporting more crude than ever before. The country is the world's seventh-largest oil producer and one of the top three suppliers to the U.S., up there with Canada and Saudi Arabia. Yet state oil monopoly Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), a giant with $55.9 billion in revenue, is hardly thriving. Indeed, in recent years the company has only been able to make ends meet through massive borrowing, so that it now owes a staggering $42.5 billion, including $24 billion in off-balance-sheet debt. Why? Because Pemex is the Mexican government's cash cow. The state-run company pays out over 60% of its revenue in royalties and taxes, and those funds pay for a third of the federal government's budget. If oil prices drop or there are no major new discoveries of crude, that could spell big trouble for Pemex -- and Mexico's finances.