Sheinbaum to present plans for electricity market and Pemex in November

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will present her plans for the country's electricity market and for state-owned oil company Pemex in early November, she said at her morning press conference on Wednesday.

She will disclose her eagerly awaited electricity plan on November 6 and her plan for Pemex the following week on November 13.

Sheinbaum was speaking as she signed into law constitutional reforms that change the legal status of Pemex and state-owned power company CFE and give them privileged positions in Mexico's energy sector.

She also said there would now be a period of 180 days in which secondary legislation for the sector will be amended to reflect the constitutional changes.

Private sector

Energy industry associations have expressed concern that the constitutional reforms increase legal uncertainty and could deter private sector investment in Mexico's electricity market. 

Without private capital, it is difficult to see Sheinbaum being able to achieve her ambition of significantly increasing Mexico's output of clean energy.

"It's important to know that there is also a space for private investment," Sheinbaum said on Wednesday. "A space will be maintained for private investment which will be established with order and with certainty in the secondary laws."

Sheinbaum has reserved 54% of electricity generation in Mexico for CFE, with the remaining 46% available to private companies.

The president will provide more detail about the secondary legislation that will govern the electricity market in her morning conference on November 6.

The new constitutional status of Pemex will allow the government to cut costs and make it more efficient, she said.

On Tuesday Pemex reported widening losses, falling output and net financial debt of US$97bn.

"We're going to implement a very significant austerity policy [at Pemex]," Sheinbaum said.