Politics

“One of the priorities of this government is to strengthen the dominance of the two state energy monopolies, which has cut private investors out of the business,” Alejandra López Martínez, energy consultant at Eploc and seasoned Mexico energy industry expert, told NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index.  “Seeing international companies as a synonym for corruption has…

Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico’s natural gas market reform, is offering the following column by Eduardo Prud’homme as part of a regular series on understanding this process. One month after the midterm elections offered hope for change in the Mexican energy sector, some worrying signs have again begun to…

Colombia’s key oil and gas industry has started to feel the impacts of nationwide protests that have dragged on for three weeks. On Wednesday, Energy Minister Diego Mesa said overall oil production had dropped below the 700,000 b/d mark for the first time since 2009. Several producers working the country have publicly announced adverse impacts.…

“The energy reform sought to create a sector that operated as a market with technical criteria and with long-term investor certainty, and that is being dismantled,” Guillermo Zúñiga, former Commissioner at the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) from 2013-2019, told NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index.  Zúñiga, currently an international attorney at the Earthjustice environmental nonprofit based…

The Biden administration has frozen awarding new oil and gas drilling permits, as well as leases on federal onshore and offshore property, for 60 days, likely heralding more permanent limits to be enacted down the road. The order mandating the freeze was signed by acting Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Scott de la Vega…

Expectations eased for a widespread winter freeze  LNG volumes were solid, but lower than January highs Spot prices sputtered amid mild temperatures Natural gas futures plunged on Tuesday after forecasts over the holiday weekend trended warmer for late January and early next month, diminishing prior expectations for a widespread winter freeze that would fuel robust…

Global exploration operators are ready to get back to business in oil and natural gas onshore and offshore, with the international players likely to shell out more funds this year than their Lower 48 compadres. Energy analysts in recent weeks have begun offering their takes on the likely pace of activity and potential capital expenditures…

The leader of the nation’s top oil and gas lobbying group didn’t mince words in condemning the actions of protesters who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, and he made clear Wednesday that last week’s events would influence the industry’s decisions about political giving moving forward. Following the American Petroleum Institute (API) annual State…

The Mexican business environment for energy sector players could be hampered by plans to fold autonomous regulators and the competition watchdog into existing ministries. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said last week he was considering the move in a bid to save money to prioritize social spending as the economy reels from the impact…