Mexican Senate Passes Energy Bill

Keywords: Mexican Senate, PEMEX, CFE, Board of Directors, Energy

On December 11, 2013, the Mexican Senate passed a sweeping energy reform bill that, if enacted into law, will revolutionize the country's energy sector and bring about the most significant overhaul of the sector since 1938. Two important revisions were made to the bill by the Senate, and these are detailed below. For a more detailed description and analysis of the bill as proposed in the Senate on December 7, 2013, see our Legal Update, "Sweeping Reforms Expected to Revolutionize Mexico's Energy Sector."

Flexibility for Congress in Establishing Upstream Contractual Frameworks

The Senate approved a revision to Transitional Article 4 so that it now provides that the contractual framework governing upstream oil and gas production and development "shall" (instead of "may") include licenses, production sharing, profit-sharing and service contracts. The revised Transitional Article 4 also was revised