Risks in the Hydrocarbons Sector

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A risk, according to the Law of the National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbons Sector (ASEA), is the probability that an undesired event will occur, measured in terms of its consequences to personnel, to the population, to facilities and equipment and the environment. In short, a risk is the probability of an accident occurring.

In this regard, it is important to consider that “risk” is not synonym to “danger”, since the latter refers to the intrinsic conditions or characteristics of an object capable of causing harm, while the risk is the probability of that damage occurring. From the above it follows that there are situations and objects that are dangerous themselves and therefore have the potential to cause harm, that is, they represent a risk, which however can be controlled and minimized.

In terms of hydrocarbons, oil and gas are hazardous materials, given their explosive and flammable characteristics. Therefore, the activities in which they are involved represent a risk, hence they are legally defined as highly risky activities.

In addition to the intrinsic characteristics, the operations carried out throughout the hydrocarbon value chain are highly complex, since 1) they involve large-scale infrastructure: drilling platforms, ship-tanks, pipelines, storage terminals, others; 2) are carried out in conditions that may be extreme, for example, drilling an oil well in the sea or traveling long distances through a ship or a train; 3) Advanced technology and specialized personnel are required.

Derived from the above, it is necessary to take all the measures in risk management to avoid accidents from happening. However, although a risk can be prevented and controlled, it can not be eliminated completely, so in any case, it will be necessary to transfer it, with the aim of preventing a company from absorbing the total economic losses that a loss may represent and that they can translate into a significant patrimonial detriment.

A risk can be transferred to an insurance company, through an insurance contract in which the insurer is committed to the insured, who in return for a premium, will indemnify him in case he suffers a loss that causes losses economic, as long as the event corresponds to the insured object, conforms to the terms and conditions established in the policy and is not an exclusion.

In the SectorHydrocarbons Sector, there are specific insurances to cover the risks inherent to this activity, which have also been established as mandatory by the regulatory authority (ASEA), such as: 1) Well control; 2) Civil Liability and 3) Environmental Responsibility.

At NRGI Broker, we are experts in insurance for the Hydrocarbons Sector. Come to us.

 

Oil industry encouraged by Trump’s trade deal with Mexico

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Washington Examiner/ John Siciliano / August 27

 

President Trump’s announcement with Mexico on Monday is being taken as an encouraging sign by the U.S. oil and natural gas industry.

“We are encouraged that negotiators have reached a preliminary agreement to modernize our trade relationships,” said Mike Sommers, the new president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s top lobbyist in Washington.

“America’s natural gas and oil industry depends on trade to continue to grow U.S. jobs and our economy, and deliver for consumers,” he added.

Trump announced Monday morning that progress had been made toward a deal with Mexico on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Negotiations with Canada, the final piece in the agreement, are still ongoing.

Trump called it a “big day for trade” and the nation in an Oval Office announcement in which he teleconferenced with outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Energy has been a key aspect of the negotiations on a revamped version of NAFTA. However, no announcement on energy trade was made on Monday. The agreement with Mexico centered on ensuring that a higher percentage of automobiles sold in North America are made with parts produced on the continent.

Negotiations on an update to the free trade agreement had stalled in recent months amid disagreements over, among other things, provisions related to the automotive and energy industries. U.S. and Mexican negotiators, however, had made breakthroughs on those issues ahead of Monday’s announcement.

Jesus Seade, the incoming Mexican government’s chief NAFTA negotiator, said Sunday the energy issues have been “ironed out,” without going into detail, Reuters reported.

Mexico has become a large importer of U.S. natural gas and oil in recent years. Energy Secretary Rick Perry had visited Mexico ahead of Monday’s announcement. He was there to discuss “how the U.S. and Mexico can continue to work together to make North America a world-wide leader in energy production and exports,” Perry said last week in a tweet.

 

Washington Examiner/ John Siciliano / August 27

 

Trump deal with Mexico eases fears of trade wars, offers template to end other conflicts

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Market Watch / Jeffry Barthash / August 27

 

That sound of ice thawing? It’s the Trump administration’s tentative deal with Mexico to rewrite the controversial Nafta free-trade pact, the first clear evidence the White House is willing to compromise on its hardline demands and avert ruinous trade wars.

News of the deal sent U.S. markets surging Monday. The Nasdaq Composite IndexCOMP, +0.17%  topped 8,000 points and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.06%  index almost hit 2,900, both touching record highs. The Dow Jones Industrial AverageDJIA, +0.15%   jumped nearly 260 points to surpass 26,000.

Details of the pending agreement are sketchy for now. Senior White House officials suggested the new pact would result in more new cars and trucks being made in the U.S. using steel and other materials produced in North America. That was one of President Donald Trump’s chief goals.

Other key provisions could lead to higher wages for Mexican auto workers and even give them greater rights to unionize, moves meant to reduce the incentive for U.S. automakers to shift operations south of the border due to lower labor costs.

The new agreement also puts greater emphasis on crafting rules to govern the “digital economy” and protect copyrights and intellectual-property rights, areas in which the U.S. is a global leader.

“I think this is an extremely historic time,” said Robert Lighthizer, the chief U.S. trade negotiator, in a call with reporters. “We had a Nafta agreement that got seriously out of whack … and needed modern updating.”

A deal is far from done, of course. Canada is the third country that was party to the original North American Free Trade Agreement signed in 1994, but negotiations have been at a standstill. The White House hopes Canada will now rejoin the talks and quickly join with the U.S. and Mexico to ratify a successor agreement to Nafta.

“We hope that Canada can join in now,” Lighthizer told reporters Monday. Talks are expected to resume soon, and at this point, it’s unlikely that any Nafta successor would be voted upon until the next Congress convenes in early 2019.

The Canadians and no doubt the Europeans and Chinese are likely to comb over the details of the agreement. The U.S. is sure to use the deal with Mexico as a template for negotiations in talks with other countries to update trade rules that Trump has long complained are unfair.

What the Mexico deal also shows, though, is the Trump administration is ready to compromise on some of its toughest demands. The U.S., for instance, dropped its insistence on a hard “sunset” clause that would cause the trade deal to expire after a certain number of years.

“Despite the Trump administration’s intransigence over trade disputes in recent months, it is willing to negotiate in good faith and accept a compromise, which will be welcomed in both China and Europe,” contended Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics.

The new pact calls for the U.S. and Mexico to review an updated North American free-trade deal six years into a 16-year window. The countries could extend the pact another 16 years at any point after that six-year period.

The U.S. also appears to have softened its demand for an end to an arbitration process for determining if a country was violating the trade agreement. Industries in the U.S. mostly support the current process for resolving problems and lobbied the White House to back off.

Yet even if the agreement is not entirely what the White House wanted, the deal with Mexico allows Trump to claim partial victory for his “America First” policy.

What’s more, the deal will go a long way in easing tensions on Wall Street and in Washington that Trump’s tough talk on trade would ignite a conflagration damaging to economies all around the world.

Major industry lobbying group and trade experts were cautiously optimistic after the White House deal.

It’s “a victory for rationality over rhetoric,” said Steve Nelson, a partner at the law firm Dorsey & Whitney and a former state department lawyer.

 

Market Watch / Jeffry Barthash / August 27

 

 

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La “Reforma Energética”de 2013 significó una apertura al sector privadoen esferas antes reservadas exclusivamente a órganos gubernamentales, tales como los sectores de infraestructura, hidrocarburos y energía; propiciando un modelo estratégico en el que los inversionistas pueden ser participantes en el desarrollo de proyectos de estos rubros como Empresas Productivas del Estado (EPE).

Estas EPE cuentan con personalidad jurídica y patrimonio propios, así como cierta autonomía que las empresas paraestatales y empresas públicas carecen; otorgando la posibilidad de abrir los sectores señalados con anterioridad a un panorama competitivo en el mercado mexicano. Con este nuevo paradigma, las prospectivas de los sectores eléctrico, de hidrocarburos y de energías renovables se amplían, como lo demuestran las siguientes cifras dentro de los documentos emitidos por la Secretaría de Energía (Prospectivas 2017-2031):

  • La producción estimada de aceite (miles de barriles diarios) aumenta de 1,964 a 3,252 al año 2031.
  • En el 2016, la capacidad instalada del Sistema Eléctrico Nacional se ubicó en 73,510 MW; pronosticando que para el 2031, esta cifra aumente hasta 113,269 MW.
  • En el 2016, existía un balance en el que la Energía Convencional comprendía un 71.2% y la Energía Limpia un 28.8% de la capacidad instalada por tipo de tecnología; previendo para el 2031 que la Energía Convencional ocupe un 50.4% y la Energía Limpia un 49.6%.
  • El incremento esperado de procesamiento de crudo es de 79.6% para el periodo 2017-2031.

Estos son ejemplos de las altas expectativas que se tienen del crecimiento en cuanto a producción, desarrollo y consumo de Energía e Hidrocarburos en poco más de una década. Con lo anterior en consideración, se debe prever que Empresas Productivas del Estado podrán realizar las siguientes actividades encaminadas a alcanzar estos Pronósticos:

  • Sector Hidrocarburos:Exploración superficial marítima y sísmica terrestre; Exploración y Extracción de hidrocarburos; Tratamiento y Refinación de Petróleo; Transporte de Hidrocarburos, Petrolíferos y Petroquímicos; Almacenamiento de Hidrocarburos, Petrolíferos y Petroquímicos; Distribución de Gas Natural y Petrolíferos; Compresión, licuefacción, descompresión y regasificación de Gas Natural; y Expendio al público de Gas Natural y Petrolíferos.
  • Sector Electricidad:Generación de Energía Eléctrica y Servicio público de transmisión y distribución de energía eléctrica.

 

En este tenor, es importante mencionar que la realización de todas estas actividades requerirán de la presentación de un estudio técnico denominado Evaluación de Impacto Social (EVIS), el cual contiene la identificación de las comunidades y pueblos ubicados en el área de influencia de un proyecto, así como la identificación, caracterización, predicción y valoración de las consecuencias a la población que podrían derivarse del mismo y las medidas de mitigación y planes de gestión social correspondientes.

En congruencia con lo establecido en la Ley de la Industria Eléctrica (LIE) y la Ley de Hidrocarburos, el 01 de junio de 2018, se publicó en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el Acuerdo por el que se emiten las Disposiciones Administrativas de Carácter General sobre la Evaluación de Impacto Social en el Sector Energético(el “Acuerdo”).

Dentro de este Acuerdo, se establece la metodología y criterios necesarios para la presentación del EVIS, un avance para la calidad de estos estudios por motivos de que la regulación y los lineamientos necesarios para la su elaboración eran escasos y no existían lineamientos definidos que pudieran usarse como base para las Empresas Productivas del Estado.

Finalmente, no se debe perder de vista la estrecha relación existente entre la Evaluación de Impacto Social y la Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental (EIA), en el entendido que la primera es un prerrequisito para la autorización de la EIA. Es requisito para los regulados contar en forma previa con las autorizaciones de ambos estudios para el desarrollo de los proyectos encaminados a los sectores de Energía e Hidrocarburos. En la siguiente figura se muestra el proceso de elaboración y evaluación de las EVIS.

Con más de 20 años de experiencia, cobertura internacional y fuerte compromiso con la sustentabilidad, la innovación y la calidad de nuestros servicios en el sector hidrocarburos, energía, turismo, desarrollo urbano,  infraestructura, medio ambiente y minería; hemos conformado un catálogo de productos y servicios con valor agregado que resuelva en forma sistémica las necesidades de nuestros clientes y grupos de interés, en materia de planeación, manejo, gestión ambiental y desarrollo sostenible, incluyendo la elaboración de EVIS y la EIA. Para ello, ponemos a su disposición la red más amplia y especializada de expertos a nivel nacional e internacional, ofreciendo una plataforma integral en la materia, trazando las alternativas y estrategias necesarias para el correcto desarrollo de Proyectos Sustentables en México, entre ellos.

Para mayor información y cualquier duda o necesidad derivada de la información presentada en el presente boletín, estamos a su disposición a través de:

 

Consultores en Gestión Política y Planificación Ambiental, S.C.

David Zárate Lomelí

Director General

Teléfono: (998) 6 88 08 75

E-mail: dzarate@gppa.com.mx

www.gppa.com.mx

 

 

Energy Insurance Broker, Agente de Seguros y de Fianzas, S.A.P.I. de C.V.

Graciela Álvarez Hoth

CEO NRGI Broker

Teléfono: (55) 9177 2100

E-mail: graciela.alvarez@nrgibroker.com

www.nrgibroker.com

 

Mexico’s outgoing President Peña Nieto and President-elect Lopez Obrador vow to work together despite differences

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Los Angeles Times / Patrick J. McDonnell / August 20

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and his once-fierce rival, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on Monday pledged cooperation in confronting the nation’s challenges despite differences on issues such as education reform and a controversial airport project.

Peña Nieto and Lopez Obrador — along with many current Cabinet members and the president-elect’s designated ministers — appeared together at the National Palace downtown and stressed themes of mutual respect.

It was the latest in a series of gestures meant to demonstrate stability and continuity as leftist Lopez Obrador prepares to assume power amid pledges for a far-reaching “transformation” of Mexican society. Peña Nieto has faced widespread unpopularity and the perception that he has been an ineffective leader.

“It is an institutional transition but it is also a respectful transition because we have received help without conditions from the constitutional president, Enrique Peña Nieto,” said Lopez Obrador, who won the presidency after losing in the two previous national elections, in 2012 and 2006.

Peña Nieto, in turn, vowed to do all he could to ensure that “the next government begins its term in a successful fashion.”

Lopez Obrador, elected July 1 in a landslide, is scheduled to take office Dec. 1 for a single six-year term. Peña Nieto was not a candidate in the election as Mexican law bars reelection of presidents.

The two men Monday answered a half dozen questions from the press but didn’t veer from differences on a number of contentious issues — notably national education reform and a planned new multibillion dollar airport for Mexico City.

Lopez Obrador reiterated his vow to review the controversial airport plan — critics say it is too expensive and not needed — and to rescind the current administration’s education overhaul blueprint. The president-elect has said he will seek out views from all sectors on how to improve the nation’s moribund public education system and what to do about the airport proposal.

Education reform was a centerpiece of Peña Nieto’s administration, but it drew fierce criticism from teachers opposed to revised rules to evaluate teacher performance. The new airport, already under construction, was the major infrastructure project of the outgoing administration.

Lopez Obrador and Peña Nieto met July 3, two days after the election, but that was a one-on-one meeting before Lopez Obrador had been legally declared president-elect.

Despite many preelection fears of an economic slide after a Lopez Obrador victory, Mexico’s economy has remained stable and the peso has retained its value against the U.S. dollar and other currencies. The incoming president has vowed to revitalize the sluggish Mexican economy, but has provided few specifics beyond a broad anti-corruption push.

Since election day, Lopez Obrador has generally toned down his often fiery rhetoric— he campaigned relentlessly against what he labeled “mafia of power,” including Peña Nieto’s administration — and has met repeatedly with investors and business interests.

The president-elect has also reached out to Washington and said he would invite President Trump to his inauguration.

U.S.-Mexico relations have experienced turbulence since Trump took office and repeatedly criticized Mexico and Mexicans.

Negotiations are continuing between the United States, Mexico and Canada in crafting a new North American Free Trade Agreement, the three-nation accord that has governed commerce on the continent for almost a quarter century. Trump has assailed the pact as unfair to U.S. interests.

The free-trade regimen is a cornerstone of the Mexican economy. Almost 80% of the nation’s exports go to the United States. Peña Nieto and Lopez Obrador have voiced support for a new trade accord.

Lopez Obrador, who ran on a leftist populist campaign vowing fundamental change, won 53% of the vote, defeating his nearest challenger by more than 30 percentage points. He has vowed to increase social-welfare payments to the poor, make higher education available to all and eliminate deep-rooted corruption.

Lopez Obrador is the first Mexican president to take office with a majority vote since 1988, during the days of dominance by the country’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI.

The PRI’s more than seven-decade hold on the presidency ended in 2000, with the election of Vicente Fox of the right-of-center National Action Party. But Lopez Obrador is the first avowed leftist and first contender from a non-traditional party to be elected president in the 21st century.

Peña Nieto is the current standard-bearer for the PRI, which suffered a humiliating defeat in the July 1 elections.

Lopez Obrador is among a number of left-leaning politicians who abandoned the PRI starting in the late 1980s. Lopez Obrador ran under the banner of his own party, the National Regeneration Movement, known as Morena, which is 4 years old.

Morena — which includes many defectors from the PRI and other traditional parties— not only won the presidency, but garnered major majorities in both chambers of the national legislature.

Despite his party’s newfound dominance at the federal level, Lopez Obrador has repeatedly vowed to run a democratic administration and to reach out to all sectors.

“This government is going to represent all Mexicans,” Lopez Obrador said Monday. “No one will be on the margins of the law or above the law.”

Cecilia Sanchez of The Times’ Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

Los Angeles Times / Patrick J. McDonnell / August 20

 

Is Mexico Set To Boost Oil Output?

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Oil Price / By The Dialogue / August 16

 

On July 27, Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his government will earmark more than $9 billion for state-run energy companies next year and start working on a new oil refinery in southern Mexico. The moves seek to reduce reliance on fuel imports from the United States while boosting the country’s oil production, which has significantly fallen off in recent years. López Obrador did not say how he would fund his proposals, an omission that worries analysts concerned about Pemex’s already heavy debt burden. He also announced Octavio Romero Oropeza as the incoming head of Pemex. Will the promised investment help accelerate Pemex’s oil and gas production? What else is needed to boost output? How well prepared is Romero Oropeza to lead Pemex, and what should his priorities be? Four Mexican energy experts weighed in with their opinions on these developments.

George Baker, publisher of Mexico Energy Intelligence in Houston: The 116-page energy sector document that the Morena transition team issued on July 10 sports both good and bad ideas. First, among the good ideas, is advocating independent unions in the oil sector (the first time since 1935 that a political party has done this). Second is suspending until further review the so-called farm-outs of Pemex—the idea that civil servants (Pemex employees) and market-disciplined managers of oil companies can have a joint venture based on sharing risk and reward only makes sense on paper. Third is promoting the concept of intelligent cities, including low energy consumption, renewable energy and intelligent grids. A fourth good idea is expanding the grid of natural gas pipelines and the use of renewable energy sources and cogeneration. Among the bad ideas: first is reactivating the refinery project in Tula and analyzing the construction of another refinery in the Gulf of Mexico. Pemex refinery upgrades have gone badly for the past 20 years, notably in Cadereyta, Villahermosa and Tula. A new refinery could take three years just for design and another three for contracting and financing. López Obrador would likely leave office before the first shovelful of earth was turned for the new refinery. Second is the upgrade of the role of Pemex in the energy space. The Morena team proposes to eliminate the so-called ‘asymmetrical regulations’ that restrict Pemex to compete effectively—to aspire to ‘make Pemex great again’ as a state agency is to ignore global success stories of state oil companies with mixed-equity structures, market financing and professional management. Finally, a third bad idea is to overstate (and obfuscate) the potential for change via public policy: there is nothing that is actionable in statements such as ‘the necessary investments in Pemex should be made,’ or ‘efforts to increase exploration and production of natural gas should be made to favor the petrochemical industry,’ or ‘deepen and coordinate all efforts to eliminate the black market in petroleum products.’ Notably, one word that does not appear in the text is ‘corruption,’ an unexpected omission by a candidate that vowed to end corruption by example. Finally, former Pemex director general Adrián Lajous recently calculated the average tenure of a director general as two years and four months. Pemex, legally configured as an agency of the federal government, always has a dozen cooks in its kitchen of corporate governance. If a director general had the authority to order early retirement for 35,000 Pemex unionized workers, there would be opportunities for leadership.

David Shields, independent energy consultant based in Mexico City: In a previous comment for the Energy Advisor on June 15, I mentioned that President-elect López Obrador’s energy team has excellent, progressive plans in renewable energy. Sadly, the same does not apply to conventional energy. The naming of Octavio Romero and Manuel Bartlett to head state-run Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has been severely criticized because of their hardline political, ideological, non-technical, non-business nature. They may be okay for rooting out corruption, but they add to fears that recent energy reforms may be rolled back, even if they and López Obrador himself deny legal amendments will be made. Congress will ultimately decide on this, and the outlook there is bad. Reforms can be reversed in practice, anyway, just through day-to-day opposition. López Obrador says he will push oil output up sharply to 2.5 million barrels per day, but reserves and reservoirs are largely depleted, there are no new discoveries, and there is not enough money for a vast exploration effort. Foreign operators will need several years to develop their projects. His best bet for ramping up output quickly would be fracking, but he promises to prohibit that, thinking that environmental risks will be greater than the benefits. His refining plans are unrealistic, too. López Obrador´s native Tabasco State offers the wrong site and the wrong logistics for a large-scale refinery to be built in just three years. Such a project normally requires two years to study, plan and tender, then another five or six years to build. Even then, it can hardly be profitable if Mexico produces and processes only very heavy crude. Intentions to rescue Pemex and reduce reliance on energy imports are good, but the prospects are not.

 

Oil Price / By The Dialogue / August 16

 

US putting ‘final details’ into Mexico trade deal, Trump economic adviser says

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Fox Business / Julia Limitone / August 13

 

Kevin Hassett on trade negotiations with Mexico

White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett on the Trump administration’s efforts to renegotiate U.S. trade deals.

Days after President Trump touted trade negotiations with Mexico – White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett said on Monday negotiators from the U.S. and Mexico are “very, very close” to a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“The team has been working overtime, late nights, going through what I would almost characterize as the final details,” he told “Mornings with Maria.”

While Hassett stayed tight-lipped on details, Trump tweeted on Friday that a deal with the U.S.’ third-largest trading partner – after China and Canada – is “coming along nicely” and any deal must take care of autoworkers and farmers.

“You should stay tuned because right now it’s closer than it’s been since I’ve been here,” Hassett, a former resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who was appointed as Trump’s chief economist in early 2017, added.

Fox Business / Julia Limitone / August 13

Mexico and U.S. studying NAFTA rules of origin proposals – minister

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REUTERS / Adriana Barrera / August 6

 

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Monday the country has put forward a proposal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement’s contentious rules of origin, and in turn was studying the U.S. position.

The United States has demanded tougher rules of origin, particularly on what percentage of a car needs to be built in the NAFTA region to avoid tariffs than outlined in the current trade deal.

“We have a proposal on the table, we’re analyzing some characteristics of the U.S. position, and we’re doing it clearly in line with our dialogue with Mexico’s auto industry,” Guajardo told reporters after an event in Mexico City.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who launched the renegotiation of the 1994 pact a year ago, has said he wants the reworked deal to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States.

Guajardo on Monday also said that Canada, which is not participating in U.S.-Mexico talks that began in Washington two weeks ago after months of negotiations between the three trade partners, could join next week, depending on progress in the next few days between Mexico and the United States.

The bilateral meetings have yielded important developments, Guajardo said, adding that he will return to Washington midweek. He did not give details.

Mexican sources briefed on the negotiations have said Mexico has offered to raise the threshold for regional content beyond a May proposal of 70 percent, up from the current level of 62.5 percent. The United States is seeking 75 percent as well as demanding a proportion of vehicles be made in factories paying $16 an hour or more.

Mexico’s El Economista financial newspaper on Monday reported that Mexico had agreed to those demands, in return for a five-year transition period. Asked about the reports, Mexico’s chief trade negotiator Kenneth Smith said that no deal on autos had yet been reached.

“We haven’t closed or resolved this chapter yet,” Smith told reporters after the same event in Mexico City, saying that Canada also needed to take part before negotiators could reach final decisions.

Smith said Mexico and the United States were discussing technical details and each other’s proposals involving the auto sector, and that Mexico was explaining the areas it considered particularly sensitive.

He also said Mexico would not budge on its rejection of U.S. bids for seasonal restrictions on fresh products or a sunset clause that could strike down NAFTA agreements after five years.

 

REUTERS / Adriana Barrera / August 6

 

 

Mexican energy sector overhaul could reduce U.S. export demand

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Chron / Katherine Blunt / August 6

 

An ambitious plan to boost Mexico’s oil and gas production could potentially slow the country’s energy sector reforms and hinder trade opportunities for U.S. refiners and pipeline companies that have ramped up exports to meet growing demand there, according to research firm Morningstar.

Mexican president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced late last month a plan to invest billions of dollars in Pemex, the country’s state-owned energy company, in an effort to  reverse years of declining production. He also reaffirmed his intent to review more than 100 exploration and production contracts awarded to private oil and gas companies since the 2013 reforms, which opened the country’s energy sector to foreign investment for the first time in decades.

Mexico’s energy reforms are enshrined in its constitution, and López Obrador has said that he will he will honor existing contracts so long as they don’t reveal corruption. But Morningstar noted that any effort to scale back the reforms or increase Mexican energy production could jeopardize some $200 billion in outside investments planned for the country’s oil and gas, power, refining and distribution sectors.

Part of López Obrador’s plan involves investing $2.6 billion to upgrade the nation’s six existing refineries as well as building a new, $8.6 billion refinery at the oil port of Dos Bocas in Tabasco. The country’s existing refineries have been operating at less than 70 percent capacity since 2012, according to Mexico’s energy department, requiring the country to import more gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined products.

 

Chron / Katherine Blunt / August 6

 

¿Por qué contar con un broker de seguros especializado en energía?

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Los seguros son instrumentos financieros de previsión que nos ayudan a reducir la incertidumbre económica sobre acontecimientos súbitos e imprevistos que puedan afectar el patrimonio de las empresas o de las personas. En sentido estricto, se trata de un contrato a través del cual una de las partes (la aseguradora) se compromete, a cambio de una prima, a indemnizar al asegurado en caso de que se lleve a cabo el evento amparado en la póliza.

 

Los seguros que se requieren en el sector energético son complejos, pues generalmente a través de ellos, se amparan grandes riesgos, como pueden ser operaciones de exploración y extracción de hidrocarburos en aguas profundas; transporte de petróleo por barco; tendido de ductos; construcción y operación de terminales de almacenamiento, etc.

 

Para asegurar estas actividades, es necesario conocer sus características, así como el tipo de riesgos a los que están expuestos, dado que: 1) son peligrosas por sus características de inflamabilidad y explosividad; 2) se les considera actividades altamente riesgosas; 3) es infraestructura de grandes dimensiones y con altos grados de inversión económica; 4) pueden encontrarse o recorrer zonas social y ambientalmente vulnerables y 5) están expuestas a las acciones u omisiones de contratistas, sub-contratistas y proveedores de servicio.

 

Derivado de lo anterior, para contar con la asesoría idónea  y contratar los seguros adecuados, es necesario contar con los servicios de un broker especializado en materia de energía.

 

Este tipo de brokerofrece asesoramiento profesional e imparcial para la contratación de los programas integrales de seguros, con las coberturas que pueden contratarse en México, pero también cuenta con la capacidad para colocar coberturas en el mercado internacional de reaseguro, cuando se trata de “grandes riesgos”.

 

Además, ofrece una variedad de soluciones innovadoras y puntuales que deben ajustarse a las necesidades particulares de cada negocio, dependiendo del perfil de la organización y de los riesgos a los que ésta se expone diariamente en sus operaciones.

 

El conocimiento de la industria petrolera y de los mercados de seguro y reaseguro, que este grupo de profesionales posee, les permite implementar y operar las mejores estrategias en la gestión de administración de riesgos, de conformidad con las necesidades de cada cliente para maximizar las oportunidades y limitar los riesgos.

 

México hace frente a un nuevo panorama con la Reforma Energética, que dará lugar a nuevos esquemas de contratación y participación en el sector de petróleo y energía.

 

En NRGI Broker, somos expertos en seguros para el sector energético. Acércate a nosotros, con gusto te atenderemos.