Mexico holds first oil auction in landmark reform

Mexico holds today the first oil auction of a historic energy reform that reopens the industry to foreign investors, with US, European and Asian firms jostling for contracts, reports BSS.

Nearly 80 years after kicking foreign energy companies out of the country, the government is offering 14 blocks in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico worth an estimated $17 billion in total.

The auction is the climax of President Enrique Pena Nieto’s top economic reform, which was enacted last year after a heated debate in Congress, with leftist parties warning against giving up a symbol of national sovereignty . . .