Seeking to improve understanding, communication, and cooperation between Mexico and the United States by promoting original research, encouraging public discussion, and proposing policy options for enhancing the bilateral relationship.
1/15/2019 – Reuters
MEXICO CITY, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that there had been “acts of sabotage” and theft from oil drilling platforms and that his government would address the problem as part of a crackdown on fuel theft.
“We have identified the problem and we are also going to face it,” he said at his morning press conference, without providing further details.
1/15/2019 – The Washington Post
By the Associated Press
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says fuel thieves have again damaged a critical pipeline that supplies the capital with fuel piped in from the Gulf coast.
Lopez Obrador says that the thieves’ intent was to hit back at his government’s campaign against theft of fuel.
One day earlier, Lopez Obrador announced that there had not been any new illegal taps in that pipeline since Friday. But on Tuesday he said the state petroleum company Pemex has had to repair the pipeline again.
1/9/2019 – Bloomberg
By Nacha Cattan
In his first trip abroad as Mexico’s finance minister, Carlos Urzua had a message he clearly wanted to deliver to the New York investing community. It was, in essence: Don’t worry, the young administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador understands the laws of economics and isn’t about to try any radical experiments that could jeopardize Mexico’s financial health.
Over the course of an almost 40-minute interview that he packed into a day full of meetings with Wall Street financiers, Urzua emphatically, and repeatedly, stated that the government will not seek to engineer faster growth than the economy can realistically handle (a mere 2 percent this year); that it respects the autonomy of the central bank; that it’s slashing spending in some ministries; that there will be no tax increases and, if anything, possibly a tax cut to help turn around the state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos.
The peso’s rally in recent weeks was an affirmation, Urzua said, of the market’s growing confidence in a leftist president many had feared, and he predicted excitedly that the currency could keep strengthening in coming weeks — to trade below 19 pesos per dollar or better.
1/10/2019 – The Washington Post
By the Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Gasoline and diesel shortages are mounting in Mexico, but President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is vowing not to retreat in his battle against fuel theft gangs.
Lopez Obrador is blaming sabotage of a key pipeline leading to Mexico City for blocks-long lines at gas stations.
Lopez Obrador said Thursday that “there will be no retreat, not one step backward” in the crackdown.
He said gangs had become so sophisticated they were running their own tank farm to store stolen fuel in northern Mexico.
1/9/2019 – Reuters
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador nominated left-leaning economist Gerardo Esquivel and independent economist Jonathan Heath to serve on the central bank’s five-member board, according to a post on a congressional website on Wednesday.
Lawmakers will need to approve Lopez Obrador’s nominations, which had been informally announced previously.
12/13/2018 – Reuters
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A group of investors holding bonds issued for a new Mexico City airport that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has canceled said on Wednesday that it cannot support an amended bond buyback because problems still remain despite improvements to the plan.
The Mexico City Airport Trust, which is overseeing the buyback, on Tuesday said it would offer investors a better deal to repurchase bonds issued to finance the project, which Lopez Obrador scrapped to pursue a cheaper alternative.
The bondholder group, which says it represents more than half the $6 billion principal amount issue, also said it still wants to discuss its concerns with the airport trust.
12/10/2018 – The Washington Post
By The Associated Press
Mexico plans to start awarding the construction of its seventh refinery as soon as March 2019, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at an event at the Dos Bocas port, in Tabasco, even as the nation´s refining system is operating at its lowest levels in three decades.
Unveiling a plan for the nation’s refining system, Lopez Obrador said Mexico will invest $8 billion in the new processing facility at Dos Bocas. “We are going to start the bidding process for the refinery by March at latest,” he said to a cheering crowd in the sun-drenched town in the Gulf of Mexico, reiterating his intentions to boost fuel self-sufficiency and end long-term declines in oil output. Mexico’s oil production, on track for its 14th consecutive yearly decline, will rise “realistically” to 2.4 million barrels per day by 2024, he said.
Lopez Obrador said a lot of 566 hectares of federal land is ready for the new plant, which will have crude processing capacity of 340,000 daily barrels, making it Mexico’s biggest refinery. It will include 17 processing plants, and 93 storage tanks or facilities, and link up to the Dos Bocas maritime terminal. A pipeline will be built connecting the refinery to the port.
