Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following column by Eduardo Prud’homme as part of a regular series on understanding this process.

As Mexico prepares for its presidential elections next June, it is no exaggeration to say that the nation is at a crossroads in the energy sector. Two candidates have emerged as prominent figures with compelling profiles. Each represents a different vision for the future of the electricity and natural gas markets. Two almost opposite models of industrial organization underlie their positions. 

At the forefront of the race is Claudia Sheinbaum, a stalwart of President López Obrador’s Morena party and the second most politically visible figure of the last five...