Tanker trucks of Mexican state oil firm Pemex’s are pictured at Cadereyta refinery, in Cadereyta, on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico April 20, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
A judge provisionally suspended modifications to Mexico’s hydrocarbons law that were intended to eliminate asymmetric price regulations against state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), court documents showed on Monday.
The modifications are part of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s efforts to roll back the previous government’s liberalization of the energy market, which aimed to increase private investment in the industry and boost competition.
The asymmetric regulation, which was contained in a transitory article in the hydrocarbons law, sought to offset Pemex’s dominant power (PEMX.UL) in the market for oil and gas products and fuels. Congress removed the curbs in late April.
Because of its size and presence in the Mexican market, Pemex can set prices that squeeze out competitors.
Monday’s suspension follows a different court ruling announced in mid-May that froze some other articles of the government’s amended hydrocarbons law.
Lopez Obrador argues that his predecessor’s 2013-14 reform of the energy market benefited private companies at the expense of Pemex, and that disputes over his efforts to overhaul the energy sector must be resolved by the Supreme Court.
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