José Antonio González Anaya has only been on the job for two weeks, but he’s ready to work. The new head of Pemex made his debut at IHS CERAWeek on Tuesday afternoon in a discussion session with IHS moderators Daniel Yergin and Carlos Pascual.
The road ahead for González is long and difficult, and contains obstacles such as steep budget cuts (Pemex’s budget will be slashed by US$5.4 billion/100 billion pesos this year) and deep arrears to service providers. High on González’s agenda is finding ways to cut corporate expenditures, and prioritize investments. And one way to accomplish the latter is to make sure the farm-outs go ahead as planned, a job that was set as a priority by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Following the energy reforms enacted in 2013, Pemex is free to seek out partners to help them develop their fields. Previous CEO Emilio Lozoya Austin was heavily criticized for losing momentum in terms of getting the partnerships completed. The farm-outs are widely viewed as the best way to boost the country’s declining production.
When asked by Pascual if Pemex is willing to bring in partners for deepwater tenders, González assured the audience that they are willing.
“We have to bring partners in,” he said. “One of the messages I have gotten from people here is that we should try to establish a timeline so we know what we’re going to do in the future. I don’t have this ready but we will try to do one. One of the nice things that the National Hydrocarbons Commission with the Ministry of Energy has done is that they have set a timeline of when rounds come in, and we have to provide a plan and say what the rules are that we will engage so that we are very transparent about what our criteria is.”
González, when asked about partnerships and how private equity firms and hedge funds who are interested in Mexico could be of assistance, the newly placed CEO made it clear he would prefer partners who can bring technology, expertise and operational experience to the table.
“We are certainly in need of financial resources,” he said. “But, if we can get efficiency gains through operations, through technology, in the business that we are in: the oil business, that’s even more profitable for Pemex and we would be much more interested in that.”
During a discussion on whether Pemex would be as open to industry feedback during the farm-out process as Mexican regulatory agencies have been during the country’s first Round One process, González signaled that he would be willing to keep an open ear.
“We will listen as well as to what are the best arraignments,” he said. “But, we will try to make it predictable and there will be clear rules for everyone so that we know what criteria we are going to use, so we can try to move these things forward.”
Image: González speaking at IHS CERAWeek. Photo from Audrey Leon/OE.
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