Installed capacity increases to 50,000MW under Fox

Mexico's installed capacity has increased by 42.8% to 50,000MW since President Vicente Fox took office in 2000, the director of state power company CFE, Alfredo Elías Ayub, said in Saturday's Contigo radio program. Since 2000, 26 power plants have been built and a further 10 are currently under construction, he added. "The energy sector of our country is fundamental for our economic development as a nation and it is a key element for the well being of the population," Fox said during the program. The country's energy sector contributes important quantities of financing to the federal budget, which are in turn used on education, health care and infrastructure among other things, Fox added. "Mexico's energy sector is driven by three institutions. The first is the energy secretary, the second are state-owned companies such as Pemex, CFE and LFC, and the third is precisely that narrow relationship between the use of that equity and the budget to develop our country," Fox said. Economic resources generated by the country's energy sector contribute 30% of the public revenue and some 12% of the country's GDP, energy secretary Fernando Elizondo said in the program. "Today, Mexico needs an energy reform, a change that will allow the sector to continue growing and advancing," Fox said. OIL & GAS Mexico's hydrocarbon situation is "delicate and complicated," as offer does not match the growing demand of world economies, Elizondo said. Currently, 18% of the natural gas consumed by Mexico is imported from the US. However, "In Mexico we have gas, but not enough to supply what we need, which is why we are fighting intensely to modify our legislation allowing for certain flexibility and security in certain types of contracts so that we can produce more gas to become self-sufficient," he said. "Moreover, in the future, our gas deposits won't be sufficient which is why we need to be connected with the rest of the world where there are immense reserves such as in Russia, Australia and Indonesia," the energy secretary added. On the positive side, electricity and gasoline demand - which is growing at a rate of 5-6% a year - has been met due to the public-private financing scheme that the government has adopted, Elizondo said.