Mexico’s oil industry monopoly ends
MEXICO – The Mexican government has approved to historic legislation to open the state-run oil industry to private investment. The legislation dismantles a 75-year-old barrier to foreign investment in Mexican oil fields.
As a result, Mexican oil output is expected to double, according to Citigroup Inc. The impact is equivalent to adding another Nigeria to world supply, or about 2.5 million barrels a day.
An influx of Mexican oil would contribute to a glut that is expected to lower the price of Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half the world’s crude that has averaged $108.62 a barrel this year. It could go as low as $88 a barrel in 2017, based on estimates from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Five of the seven analysts who provided 2017 forecasts said prices would be lower than this year.
The revolution in shale drilling that boosted U.S. oil output to a 25-year high this month will allow North America to join the ranks of the world’s crude-exporting continents by 2040.
The effects of the reform will reverberate far beyond the energy industry. Some estimates predict the reform will boost Mexican GDP by 2 percent and create 2.5 million Mexican jobs by 2025.
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