| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | August 2008 
Key Mexican Party Moves to OK Private Energy Deals
 Miguel Angel Gutierrez - Reuters
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Mexico City - A key Mexican opposition party scrapped an internal ban against private investment in the state-run oil business, moving lawmakers closer to approving a government plan to overhaul the energy sector.
The centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, voted to drop from party principles the rule prohibiting private investment in Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly, at an assembly on Saturday, the Reforma newspaper reported.
The PRI's support is vital for the ruling conservatives to push an energy reform bill through the divided Congress.
Hoping to shore up flagging production and reserves in the world's No. 6 oil producer, President Felipe Calderon submitted a plan in April to give private companies performance-based bonuses to sweeten oil field service contracts.
Left-wingers say the proposal violates a constitutional ban on private companies exploring for and producing oil in Mexico, seen as a symbol of sovereignty since the industry was expropriated in 1938.
"(The PRI) is against all attempts to privative the patrimony of all Mexicans," said the deleted clause. The party ruled Mexico for seven decades before being voted out of office in 2000.
The PRI proposed its own plan for energy reform in July, which was largely in line with Calderon's bill. It allows for private involvement in service contracts but stops short of offering foreign companies a share in oil output.
Pemex has been grappling with a steady decline in production since 2004, threatening its status as a top U.S. supplier.
The company recently revised down projections for its main Cantarell oil field this year to 2.8 million barrels per day, less than an initial goal for 2008 of 3.0 million bpd.
Officials admit it will be hard for Mexico to restore oil output to recent levels before 2020, even if the government wins approval for its plan.
(Editing by Eric Walsh) |
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