Mexico is on track to tender some of its more lucrative conventional oil and gas blocks in successive auction rounds beginning in summer 2015. Major international exploration and production firms have taken a keen interest in these resources, but some key policy questions remain for investors and the Mexican government.
In later bidding rounds, volatile prices could hinder the profitability of Mexico’s shale and deep-water potential, which have been key selling points of the reform. Rule of law uncertainties also increase risk for foreign investors. While the terms of the constitution and subsequent implementing legislation may be sufficiently favorable on paper, companies will need a sophisticated business approach with respect to potential transparency and accountability issues; unproven competition regulations; and environmental, social and security concerns. As the reform’s implementation moves forward, how will these issues affect the terms of private contracts, Mexico’s competitiveness in the global market, and the oil revenue generation expectations of the Mexican government?
The sponsors of this event — the Mexico Center and the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Americas Colloquium at Haynes and Boone, LLP — seek to engage energy industry executives and other stakeholders from the private sector, government decision-makers, and the general public in a series of panel discussions on the details of the bidding process, the pace of reform efforts in terms of geopolitical and price volatility, and the role of the rule of law in the reform’s implementation.
Agenda
7:30 amRegistration and Light Breakfast
8:00 amWelcoming Remarks
Tony Payan, Ph.D.
Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies, and Director, Mexico Center, Baker Institute
George Y. Gonzalez
Partner, Haynes and Boone, LLP
Keynote Address
Juan Carlos Zepeda Molina
President Commissioner, National Hydrocarbons Commission of Mexico
(Click here to view the speaker's slides)
9:00 amPanel I — Round Zero, Round One and Beyond: Analyzing the Bidding and Adjudication Process
Moderator: Luis F. Moreno Trevino, Partner, Haynes and Boone, LLP (slides)
Luis M. Labardini
Partner, Marcos y Asociados
Jim Krane, Ph.D.
Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies, Baker Institute
Hunt Buckley
Senior Counsel, Haynes and Boone, LLP
Luis Ramirez
Country Manager – Mexico, Petroleum Geo-Services
Panel II — The Geopolitical and Economic Context for Mexico’s Energy Reform
Moderator: Brad Richards, Partner, Haynes and Boone, LLP
Isidro Morales, Ph.D.
Nonresident Scholar, Mexico Center, Baker Institute; and Senior Professor and Researcher, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Ph.D.
James A. Baker, III, and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics, and Senior Director, Center for Energy Studies, Baker Institute
Ariel Ramos
Partner, Haynes and Boone, LLP
Panel III — The Rule of Law and the Implementation of Mexico’s Energy Reform
Moderator: Tony Payan, Ph.D., Director, Mexico Center, Baker Institute
Josefina Cortés Campos (slides)
Professor, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
Ana Elena Fierro Ferráez (slides)
Dean, Master’s Program in Public Policy, and Professor, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, A.C.
Alberto de la Peña
Partner, Haynes and Boone, LLP
Concluding Summary
Ricardo García-Moreno
Partner, Haynes and Boone, LLP
Closing Remarks
Tony Payan, Ph.D.
Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies, and Director, Mexico Center, Baker Institute
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