Research Library

This paper analyzes the possible impact of Mexico’s energy reform on the country’s environment, as well as the challenges to preserving natural resources and access to water while also supporting the expanding oil and gas sector.

As a result of the 2013 energy reform, oil and gas companies completing projects in Mexico must now meet mandatory requirements to utilize local goods and services suppliers. The authors analyze the legislative framework in place to enforce the local content requirement and the economic implications of the policy.

Mexico’s energy reforms created a still-developing reality whereby interactions among the players require new rules, new dispute settlement procedures, and far-reaching legal expertise. Importantly, the reforms also redefined the country's prevailing culture and legal norms. This prologue serves as a guide for readers of the series of papers that follow on the impact of energy reforms on Mexico's rule of law.

This paper critiques the Mexican government's efforts to train the country's workers for jobs created by energy reforms.

North America is emerging as a virtual supply center of the international energy market, a development that has implications for the economic and geopolitical stature of the entire continent.