Mexico’s first attempt to open up its oil industry to foreign companies was a failure. Its auction only attracted $2.6 billion in potential investments, compared to $17 billion maximum potential. Brazil had a similar failure more recently, with only 10% of its blocks being auctioned receiving viable bids. These latest failed auctions, coupled with other facts point to a permanent peak in oil production at current prices, which is unfolding presently, which will only reverse once prices rise. By far the most spectacular and talked about trend since the oil price collapsed more than a year ago, is the dramatic decline in drilling that occurred in the United States since the beginning of this year. For many months, we have been hearing about the resiliency of the shale industry, fueled by the delay in reaction of the industry in response to declining prices. At first, there was a […]