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A Safe Place for Investment in a Resource-Rich State

Andrés Fusco - State of Tamaulipas
Energy Comissioner

STORY INLINE POST

Thu, 02/15/2018 - 13:22

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Q: How is Tamaulipas working to capitalize on its oil and gas deposits?

A: It is important that we separate the responsibilities of federal and state governments. As a state government, we promote our entity both within our borders and internationally. Tamaulipas and Texas share 17 border crossings and we have common characteristics with our northern neighbor that we can promote, especially considering Texas is one of the most experienced US states in the energy sector. Tamaulipas has one of the largest natural gas reservoirs in the country. Such an asset is a critical contribution to Mexico’s energy sector as a whole. The government of Tamaulipas is promoting the state in the oil and gas industry because we see both conventional and unconventional resources as two sides of the same coin. The state’s experience in oil and gas spans over 100 years so we understand the industry and are eager to bring the experience of Texas entrepreneurs to our side of the border to develop the industry according to the highest international standards. We are coordinating meetings with the Ministry of Energy to foster the development of Tamaulipas’ oil and gas deposits.


Q: How is the Tamaulipas Energy Commission assisting oil field operations in the state?

A: Tamaulipas rearranged the structure under which it manages its energy portfolio by creating its Energy Commission after the Energy Reform was enacted. With investment flows into energy projects in our state, we assist during bureaucratic procedures and everything required at both local and federal compliance levels. Twenty-three of the blocks auctioned since Round One are in Tamaulipas, both onshore and offshore. We are expecting more than US$45 billion in investments for our state, meaning we must prepare ourselves, together with industry clusters and local entrepreneurs, and also ensure the human resources requirements. We are working with the Minister of Education of Tamaulipas to draft career programs that can provide qualified professionals able to align with the industry’s investment flows into the state. This 100-yearold industry in Tamaulipas had only one client: PEMEX. Tamaulipas’ academic sphere is working to redesign higher education programs to prepare the state’s professionals to meet the energy sector’s demand for qualified human capital. Expectations are greater now and made by highly sophisticated, international companies that demand equally sophisticated professionals. 


Q: What objectives has Tamaulipas set to boost its midstream sector?

A: The biggest hurdle for Tamaulipas’ midstream sector is infrastructure. We need to extend our pipeline network and develop a third port in the northern part of the state to address the challenge of our state’s 400km-long coastline in the Gulf of Mexico. The same can be said for the electricity industry. We lack the transmission lines required to supply the region’s increasing electricity demand. We are working with the federal government to obtain an increased budget to inject into the energy sector’s production chain, focusing primarily on infrastructure, and also trying to map Tamaulipas for the energy sector in coordination with the Ministry of Transport and Communications (SCT) and the Navy (SEMAR).


Q: What are Tamaulipas’ plans to revamp the local value chain?

A: This issue has been on the agenda since Governor García won a seat in the Senate in 2012 and took an active role in the Energy Reform’s enactment process. From the outset, we focused our efforts primarily on local value chains and the use of surface land. Now, as a government body, we only need to ensure that the law is being duly applied to the benefit of both the investors and land owners in the locations where energy projects are being assessed. The Tamaulipas Energy Commission is working to monitor local content provisions with investors and entrepreneurs. So far, negotiations between land owners and investors have proven constructive. Our regulatory framework is already set up to apply a system that works for all parties involved, which will be replicated by other entities where the energy sector is booming. 
 

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