The second round of NAFTA negotiations that concluded yesterday in Mexico City sought ways to enshrine the 2014 energy sector reforms that the Enrique Pena-Nieto government had launched to overhaul an oil and gas industry monopolized by state-major, Pemex. This monopoly had all the consequences that were to be expected, including underinvestment in new oil and gas discoveries, falling output, and ultimately, a threat to the country’s energy security with increased reliance on imports, especially of fuels and natural gas, from the U.S. The reforms that Pena-Nieto’s government effected involved opening up the Mexican energy market to private participants, with a series of oil and gas auctions conducted in relatively quick succession in a bid to address a situation where energy demand at home is growing but production of energy sources is falling. Yet, this is Pena-Nieto’s last term as president, and the frontrunner for the 2018 election is […]