Mexico’s 2013 energy reform: towards energy transition?

Abstract

Mexico is an important oil producer and consumer country but its oil sector is facing many challenges. One of the most important challenges is the decrease in the oil production and reserves. In order to ensure national energy security, in 2013, the Energy Reform – a decree amending and supplementing various provisions of the Mexico’s Constitution concerning the energy policy – was enacted. This note questions whether this reform fulfills the requirements to be considered as a comprehensive reform towards the energy transition to a more sustainable energy model or whether it is a political strategy to maintain an economy dependent on hydrocarbons, obtaining economic benefits with scarce environmental concerns. The note suggests that the energy transition is eclipsed by the economic interests in obtaining maximal profits from private investment while leaving by the wayside environmental and social concerns.