Andrew joined NGI in 2018 to support coverage of Mexico’s newly liberalized oil and gas sector, and his role has since expanded to include the rest of North America. Before joining NGI, Andrew covered Latin America’s hydrocarbon and electric power industries from 2014 to 2018 for Business News Americas in Santiago, Chile. He speaks fluent Spanish, and holds a B.A. in journalism and mass communications from the University of Minnesota.
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Articles from Andrew Baker
Mexico Energy Regulator Losing Independence, Not Fulfilling Duties Under AMLO Government, Former Commissioners Say
Mexico’s Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE) is losing its independence and failing to carry out its constitutional mandate under the current government, according to a former chairman and two former commissioners of the energy regulator. Created in 1994 under the liberalizing economic reforms of former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the CRE performs similar functions…
July 22, 2020
New Mexico Targeting 98% Methane Capture from Oil, Natural Gas Operations in Six Years
New Mexico authorities on Monday published two separate sets of draft rules aimed at curbing methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) unveiled what it called “New Mexico’s first comprehensive methane regulations,” which propose 98% natural gas capture from the oil and gas industry by the…
July 21, 2020
OPEC Sees Mexico Oil Output Falling in 2021 from Natural Decline in Legacy Fields
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said last Tuesday it expects Mexico’s liquid hydrocarbons production to stay flat year/year at 1.9 million b/d in 2020 before falling to 1.8 million b/d in 2021 because of the natural decline of oilfields operated by national oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). Although the government has pledged…
July 20, 2020
Construction Work in Oil, Natural Gas Surpass Renewable Jobs, Says Building Trades Union
Construction workers in the energy sector view oil and natural gas jobs as more plentiful and longer lasting, as well as providing better pay, health and pension benefits, than similar jobs in the renewables segment, according to two surveys commissioned by North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU). Through the surveys, one quantitative and one qualitative,…
July 17, 2020
OPEC-Plus To Ease Production Cuts as Conflicting Factors Keep WTI Around $40
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, aka OPEC-plus, has agreed to ease coordinated oil production cuts to 7.7 million b/d from the August-December period from the May-July amount of 9.7 million b/d. The decision announced Wednesday to start turning the taps back on comes amid a tightening of the global supply/demand…
July 16, 2020
Biden Unveils $2T Climate, Infrastructure Plan Targeting Carbon-Free Power Sector by 2035
Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday afternoon unveiled a $2 trillion climate change and infrastructure plan dubbed “Build Back Better” that targets a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. The accelerated transformation of the electricity sector “represents the biggest job creation and economic opportunity engine of the 21st century,” according to the…
July 14, 2020
Improved Natural Gas Pricing Outlook Presents E&P Opportunities in Mexico, Says Former Official
A strengthened outlook for natural gas pricing in 2021 has made the development of natural gas fields in Mexico a more attractive proposition, according to Juan Carlos Zepeda, former head of upstream oil and gas regulator Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH). In a podcast interview with NGI, Zepeda highlighted the central and growing role of…
July 13, 2020
Covid Resurgence ‘Casting Shadow’ Over Oil Market Recovery
Although economic activity and oil demand are recovering from the first wave of Covid-19, a resurgence of the pandemic in regions such as North and South America “is casting a shadow over the outlook” for the oil market, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday. “Only time will tell if the economic impact will be…
July 10, 2020
OPEC Leader Says U.S. Vital to Ensuring Post-Covid Oil Market Balance
U.S. producers have played a critically important role in rebalancing the global oil market after Covid-19 and will continue to do so going forward, according to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo. Although tensions have long simmered between the Saudi-led cartel and the Lower 48 onshore segment, “there is…
July 9, 2020
FPSO Awards Seen Rebounding Sharply in 2021 as Offshore Oil, Natural Gas Project Sanctioning Resumes
Oil and gas companies are expected to award seven floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in 2021, versus a likely total of one this year, as offshore project sanctioning recovers from the current downturn, according to Rystad Energy. Tokyo-based Modec Inc. won the only FPSO contract awarded so far this year, to supply a…
July 9, 2020