Marsh has been involved in offshore risk management and consultancy since the late 1980s, both in Mexico and in various Latin American countries. In 2013, the company created its dedicated Energy & Infrastructure division to optimize its ability to cater to the growing demand for its services in the upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas markets. Marsh seeks to consolidate its position in the Mexican oil and gas industry for the long-run and is preparing its practice for the changes in operational risk that the Energy Reform will bring to the Mexican oil and gas industry. Julio Ricaud, Managing Director of Marsh Mexico, and Michael Günther, Director Energy & Infrastructure of Marsh Mexico, are keen to highlight the international reach of the firm. “Specializing in the oil and gas sector is not new to us. We have a full team of specialists located throughout 13 global energy hubs,” states Ricaud. The firm has knowledgeable specialists that are in touch with oil and gas clients ranging from IOCs and NOCs to suppliers and service providers, as well as the pipeline, refining, and petrochemicals industries. “We have been building on that combined expertise for many years globally through our core 3D strategy: define, design, and deliver.” Marsh already provides a significant share of the brokerage services for the Mexican oil and gas industry. In June 2014, PEMEX appointed Marsh as the risk advisor for its Energy Program multi-peril policy, which includes all of its onshore, offshore, upstream and downstream assets. This accomplishment denotes the firm’s strong positioning in the Mexican hydrocarbon insurance market as well as its commitment to the key stakeholders of the industry.

The Energy Reform will certainly change the way companies deal with risk, as international companies entering Mexico will bring their own best practices for risk management. “This will push forward the perception of risk in Mexico. Potential partners for PEMEX will come in with very high standards for loss prevention and risk management, among other factors, which are set to establish a new benchmark for the Mexican oil and gas industry,” says Günther. “Even though PEMEX has lived up to certain best practices for some time now, it will be beneficial that foreign companies entering the market will show domestic firms how they manage risk.” While this process takes place, Marsh plans to provide consulting services by leveraging its global oil and gas experience to protect its clients’ operations from an insurance perspective.

By dedicating itself to consulting in addition to insurance and reinsurance brokerage, Marsh will be able to further understand risk in case-specific scenarios. Through Marsh Risk Consulting, the firm has created a team of specialized engineers that looks after all property loss prevention and risk control issues. Stepping up its consultancy capabilities enables Marsh to design solutions for its clients with sophisticated risk modelling tools, enabling them to better analyze and handle their risk in new environments. Additionally, Günther points out that the essential pillars of Marsh’s strategy involve both understanding risk and understanding the Mexican business environment. “For example, given that deepwater developments and shale operations are new activities in Mexico, these developments will imply risks that local insurance companies would not previously have been exposed to. That is precisely where we can assist by pinpointing critical risk factors.”