Laura Sima, office director of the Energy Department of the United States Embassy in Mexico, said US companies want to invest in the energy sector, but need clear rules of the Government of Mexico.
“We have a lot of opportunity to collaborate in Mexico and our companies have a very strong interest in investing in Mexico, but you have to be very clear about legislation and regulations to start and land these investments,” he said within the framework of the forum.mx, energy innovation, organized by B2V Media.
“The United States will continue to be in Mexico to collaborate with the economic sectors and collaborate in the energy industry,” he said.
He said that from the beginning of this administration “we point out the importance of the relationship with Mexico, which is among the three regions of the world with the highest priority of international relations.”
“My office is one of the 18, which is installed in the world, and was inaugurated in 2019, in the first government of President Donald Trump. And we will be very busy and collaborating with Mexico in the coming years,” he said.
He recalled that the last three governments of the United States and Mexico have seen the energy sector as a key to show the benefit of commercial cooperation, and that the oil, electric and gas industry make the economies of both countries grow, create work opportunities and detonate a growth of the other sectors dependent on energy.
Donald Trump established a series of goals in his energy policy, which must be fulfilled to guarantee energy sovereignty, he added.
Laura Sima recalled that the priorities of the United States are to increase the production of domestic energy to guarantee the energy security of the United States.
Also expanding global markets for energy resources produced by the United States, which is good for partners and friends around the world and Mexico.
He added that in March, Luz Elena González, Secretary of Energy, and Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy of the United States, had a meeting in Texas, and agreed that the energy sector is key to the relationship of both economies.
He pointed out that natural gas is the main source of electricity generation in the United States and Mexico, since it represents more than 40 percent of electricity generation in the US market and 50 percent in the Mexican Republic.
He explained that the United States will have a maximum production of natural gas with 105 billion cubic feet per day, one third goes to the generation of electricity in the US market and the rest is exported.
He said that Mexico has direct access to abundant and economical natural gas produced in the United States thanks to an extensive network of pipelines, geographical proximity, economic relations and commercial agreements.
The north of Mexico would not have been quickly industrialized nor would it be so competitive if it were not for access to cheap natural gas, he said.
“It is also undeniable that the recent investments of the Federal Electricity Commission in 5 new combined cycle plants during the last six -year term, some of which have been inaugurated as recently as this year, further compromise Mexico to depend on a stable supply of natural gas over the next decades,” he said.
He said that net exports through United States gas pipelines reached historical maximums in 2024, with an average of 6.4 billion cubic feet.
“Natural gas will be increasingly crucial for the United States electricity, since there is a greater and growing demand for the growth of artificial intelligence and data centers, which also occurs in Mexico,” he concluded.
