Mexico’s Federal Congress has certified that 24 of the country’s 31 state legislatures have approved energy reforms that allow private companies to explore for and produce oil and gas. All state legislatures are unicameral, and in some, the decision was unanimous. This vote is above the 17 state approvals required to pass constitutional changes.
This was the third step required to enact the constitutional reform, which amended Articles 25, 27, and 28 of the Mexican Constitution.
On December 18th, the Permanent Commission of the Mexican Congress issued its declaration of the constitutional reform.
On December 20th, 2013 President Enrique Peña Nieto formally signed the constitutional reform in a ceremony at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City.
A Mexican congressional commission said that it sent the state-approved bill to President Peña Nieto, who has said he will sign it into law as soon as possible.
The congress must now pass enabling legislation in order for the law to enter full effect. Congress has three months to do so.
The new law will allow Mexico’s state-owned oil company, PEMEX, to sign profit- and production-sharing agreements with private companies, and grant licenses under which the firms will pay royalties and taxes to Mexico’s government for the right to drill for oil and gas.
Read past coverage:
Mexican Congress Passes Energy Bill (13 Dec 2013).
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