The Government of Claudia Sheinbaum seeks to reverse Mexico’s energy horizon in record time. It intends that Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) pass in less than two years of being a company cornered by its debts to an oil company with financial self -sufficiency and a production of crude oil and natural gas. To do this, the Secretariats of Energy, Finance and a Roadmap for the next 10 years under the idea of continuing with the recovery of energy sovereignty and resume strategic planning.
“Mexico was avant -garde on planning issues, had instruments that were unquestionable,” said the Secretary of Energy, (Villahermosa, Tabasco, 51 years) during the interview with El País in its new office, in the same building that until a few months ago it housed the Attorney General’s Office. González insists that the starting point is the “dismantling” of the energy sector that, in his opinion, suffered Mexico before the arrival of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “Energy sovereignty was put at risk and we are convinced that energy is not only one more merchandise,” he says.
The road map proposes a model that aims to balance sovereignty and competitiveness. The challenge is not less given by the avalanche of financial and operational challenges facing the most indebted oil company in the world: its debts exceed 120,000 million dollars, while the extraction of crude oil and natural gas falls. However, the plan, especially its financial architecture of the plan and the hand laid back to private companies, has been received with expectation.
Ask. Sometimes it is almost worse to disappoint critics than to excite them. Because
Answer. Pessimism always leads you to defeat. The principle that things work is to be optimistic and be sure of what we are doing. With that you do not guarantee success, of course, why will it work? Because it is a plan. Many years ago one was not made in which there is a solidity and complete clarity of the financial part and the productive part, and both are complemented. It is not only how you face the financial situation, but how you make it sustainable in the long term so that it does not happen again in terms of the weight it can have in public finances. What we did, but link them to a productive plan that allows the company to begin to assess on its own. We got into each number of each Pemex area to first understand and then be able to see what businesses the financial strategy could support.
P. Getting that in two years the company is sustainable is ambitious.
R. You have to be a bit optimistic. The financial strategy is flexible enough to read the market signs. The Secretary of the Treasury is a great financial and has a very solid team in the public debt area. We were working not only on the strategy that we are announcing, but in the following steps that allow to agree that strategy and arrive at what we want in 2035. The plan is not six -year, it is a road map for the next 10 years, which gives the company a long -term vision. We are still an oil country, but we have to move towards the energy transition, another of the priorities of the constitutional reform we did. What we want is to capitalize the company, is to give liquid income to the Pemex box so that you can make the investments and produce what we need.
P. What will the Banobras fund consist?
R. It is a unique instrument, seeks to protect the investment of 2025 to begin to give viability to the entire program. We could not grab and pay all the assets without seeing what was going to happen to investment and production. The Banobras vehicle seeks to guarantee the investment of 2025 and then there we guarantee this change in production. It is a vehicle that is done only once, it is important to say, it is responsible for the investment of 2025 and allows the company not to stop, because it has to pay everything we have been carrying for 15 years.
P. It gives the impression that Pemex will be in charge of the technical part, the Finance of the Financial Party and Energy, that is, you, that everyone fulfills their work. A species hit the table where Dad state has taken leadership and will make Pemex finally do things well. What will be the role of finance and energy? Are they going to guard to Pemex?
R. No, nottellar no. We do not assume any role that does not respect us. , there are very trained people, we have done this work with each of the Pemex officials and this plan depends on them and the general director. The issue is that the state planning capacity had been dismantled, it was necessary to coordinate again. The Secretary of the Treasury does not have time to be monitoring Pemex’s production, but has the responsibility to ensure the public finances of this country and Pemex matters. The director of Pemex is a super capable person and my role is the one who sends the Constitution. I am the head of the energy sector. But so far.
P. What are the 2025 priority projects?
R. One is to maintain the production platform at 1.8 million barrels. It is the sufficient platform to be able to give you the raw necessary for the processing of high value products. Gasoline, diesel and turbosine. The recovery of petrochemical production, achieve self -sufficiency in fertilizer production and advance in other business lines that allow an energy transition from the company.
P. How and cogeneration?
R. Indeed. In addition, all the contracts that exist and others are respected and we create a new figure, the mixed association. That allows much more transparent, clear and more profitable associations for the Mexican State. Where the State protects a sensible and private gain can also participate with a sensible gain. They are assignments that Pemex of Campos already explored, where there is confirmation of reservations. These assignments remain from Pemex, but through contracts you can make a mixed investment where the private one puts the appeal required for exploitation and risks and profits are shared, and there is a very clear priority of payments. The first thing that is paid here is the well -being tax, 30%. That is an important change too, because, then its profitability was not possible. Then the costs, investment, with very clear and transparent criteria are covered. These costs go to 30%, except for specific cases and go through a committee. There is an evaluation of each of the projects before and during the follow -up. Why up to 30%? Because with the data we have, we believe that it is enough for certain types of fields and allow it to be up to 40%, for example, for deep water fields. Right now there are 21 projects that are in the process of award.
P. That is, the State is the owner of the resources, the rector of the processes, but also the best ally of the private ones in this sector?
R. We are not against private investment, on the contrary, it is an important source of the country’s development, but under clear rules, not in any way. We are against what is outside the law, of the national interest, of the public interest and the sovereignty of this country.
P. Speaking of what is outside the law. Pemex has historically been a source of corruption and money leakage. What steps are going to take?
R. I don’t know what it refers to the money escape. And in terms of corruption, if there is any subject, we must report it, we will pursue it and we will fight it. We deliver the administration of Mexico City with zero observations of the Superior Audit. And no, I am not saying that there were no cases, but if they were, it fought. And this will be the same. We are not going to change.
P. How much of what is presented this week depends on the fight against fuel, known as Huachicol?
R. This program is in parallel to the fight against illicit fuel trade, because that is a goal of the Mexican State, I would not say about the Secretariat, from the security side. We are giving elements to have more information and facilitate the mechanisms that allow combat by the areas of intelligence and public safety. Before the complete traceability of fuels was not an obligation. Our contribution is to find those holes and support colleagues in security. Today we have more than 60 million liters of confiscated fuel, there are more than 1,100 people detained.
P. In the productive part of the plan he has drawn attention, by controversy ,. Do you think Mexico in general, and the Mexican left in particular, has to make a reset about its conception of fracking?
R. I want to be very careful. We come from the environmental sector, we are not going to do absolutely anything against the environmental sector. Therefore, we are against fracking. What does it mean? Fracturing, arrive, remove, extract fuels, oil resources with water for human consumption or water for industry use. We are completely against that. No one is raising that. For conviction, because from there we come. However, we have to take charge of increasing gas production. We import a very important amount of gas and we have gas reserves.
P. What expects and what asks the Pemex union for this new plan?
R. The union is a subject of workers and is a labor law that workers have. I would talk to Pemex workers. Pemex workers are the company’s backbone.
P. And to union leaders?
R. That they join this new vision and that contribute to the formation of human capital, of the engineers we need. We must recover the pride of Mexican engineering and recover all those brilliant minds that we lost and the formation of human capital we had.
