• BREACH: The López Obrador administration is contravening Mexico’s trade commitments by discriminating against US companies in the country’s energy market through excessive red tape, delayed permits and uneven regulations, according to the powerful US oil and gas trade group API.
• LETTER: In a letter to US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and other Trump administration officials, the group representing more than 600 oil and gas companies argued that Mexico was in violation of old and new North American trade pacts (NAFTA and USMCA, respectively).
• DISCRIMINATION: “For example, US investors are facing increasing difficulties getting permits for a range of activities, including new or re-branded stations, third party storage facilities, imported fuels, liquids terminals, and LNG terminals. “, said Michael J. Sommers, API’s president, in a letter dated June 11.
• WARNING: In May, the US Ambassador to Mexico, Chris Landau, expressed concerns about the changing rules in the Mexican energy sector under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Last September, López Obrador criticized a high State Department official for comments on the issue.
