Mexico Energy Minister Rocío Nahle is resigning from her post to run for governor of Veracruz state, capping off a five-year stint as Mexico’s top energy policymaker.

A petrochemical engineer and former employee of state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Nahle was handpicked for the post by Mexico’s firebrand president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, better known as AMLO, who took office in late 2018.

To replace Nahle, López Obrador has selected Miguel Ángel Maciel Torres, a petroleum engineer who had been serving as hydrocarbons undersecretary at energy ministry Sener. 

While Nahle’s background is in the downstream segment, Torres previously spent 30 years at Pemex Exploración y Producción, the upstream unit of the state energy giant. He also spent two...