Coming to you from the edge of Giants Playground in CO’s Lost Wilderness. Today we’re talking about Mexico’s energy sector.
As I was heading out on this trip, a fire broke out in Mexico’s Cantarell oil field, which has long been Mexico’s largest oil-producing asset. However, even before this fire, oil production from this field was already down to but 1/8 of peak production.
The Cantarell field was developed over a century ago and has accounted for most energy production in modern Mexican history. This meant Mexico never had to develop the infrastructure or workforce for a broad-based energy sector.
Even though Mexico has plenty of accessible oil fields, they can’t develop them due to a lack of skill and strict anti-investment laws. So energy production in Mexico is falling off, and there’s no reason to expect that to stop anytime soon. Within a few years, I expect Mexico to become a net energy importer (with most of that being refined product coming from the US).
But it’s not all bad…Mexican energy production might be slowing, but consumption is also rising. And thanks to NAFTA, Mexico is tied at the hip to the US. So even without a strong energy sector, Mexico’s future still looks bright. If government officials would stop lining their pockets and put that money where it should be, Mexico’s future could be even brighter.
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