NEW REGULATION FOR THE POWER GENERATION AND GAS INDUSTRIES IN MEXICO: THE POSSIBILITIES FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS

The natural gas and electricity industries represent two of the most important industries in the Mexican economy. These economic sectors were finally opened for private participation either national or foreign. The energy reform initiated with the modifications of the Mexican Constitution in December 2013, and continued with the laws of the congress that implemented the new constitutional mandate in August 2014. Since 1994, Mexico has become one of the largest producers of electricity through natural gas in the world. However, Mexico needs to address various challenges in both the natural gas and the electricity industries, due to lack of infrastructure. In the natural gas industry, such challenges exist in the exploration, production, transportation, distribution and storage of natural gas. In the electricity industry, the challenges are satisfying the national demand for electricity generation, and delivering electricity in a reliable, safe, efficient, and sustainable way through the national electricity system to the industry and households. This article will review the modifications made to the legal regime in both industries, analyzing the activities that individuals and corporations could not perform in the past, and the activities that the energy reform opened for the participation of the private sector. It Will also address the difficulties found in the energy reform after more than 4 years of its implementation.