Italy's ENI SpA inaugurated its new office in Mexico City with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, less than a month after Mexico voted to amend its Constitution to open the oil & gas market to foreign companies. The President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, and Eni’s CEO, Paolo Scaroni met in Mexico City within the framework of the official visit of Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta to Mexico.
Photo at right: Letta and Peña Nieto
Letta is President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic and was given "keys" to Mexico City during his visit, representing friendship between the two countries. Italy is the ninth largest investor in Mexico, with about 1400 companies and € 1.1 billion of Italian exports and investments insured by SACE.
Italian media covering the visit reported that Scraoni said "Mexico, the Gulf in particular, is an almost unexplored mine" and there is "a big job to do." Scaroni said that ENI already has the necessary offshore technology in the US Gulf and in Africa. Changes that open the offshore sector were an early surprise, Scaroni said, as ENI had not expected the opportunity before 2016.
ENI said its delegation, including Claudio Descalzi, COO of Eni E&P Division, had a meeting with representatives of national oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). Scaroni met with his counterpart at PEMEX, CEO Emilio Lozoya Austin, to lay the groundwork for future collaboration between the two companies. In particular, they discussed future strategic partnerships in the upstream sector.
Scaroni expects PEMEX to identify blocks as early as April.
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