Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed this Tuesday that she is analyzing the proposal made by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to promote an alliance between the oil companies Petrobras and Pemex, focused on exploring new deep-water fields. This is another change that Sheinbaum seeks to implement, but the financial and operational problems complicate Pemex's situation. In this context, a potential alliance between the two oil giants becomes one of the few viable alternatives for Pemex to reactivate more complex projects, while private companies still resist participating in large-scale projects. "That could be a possibility (regarding this alliance)", she said. Currently, production is around 1.3 million barrels, below official targets. Rodríguez bets that an alliance with Petrobras will accelerate the interest of major oil companies in partnering with Pemex. In this context, the alliance appears as a way out of Pemex's difficulties in attracting new private partners, as the mixed contracts promoted in recent months have not managed to generate the expected interest among major international oil companies. During the previous six-year term, a more nationalist energy policy was carried out that blocked the entry of new participants. "We will see what the proposal is, we have not made a decision, but Lula proposed it," Sheinbaum responded when asked about this proposal. The proposal is already taking shape: Sheinbaum announced that in April she will receive Magda Chambriard, president of Petrobras, who will also meet with the Secretary of Energy, Luz Elena González, and Víctor Rodríguez, head of Pemex. As anticipated by LPO, in Pemex's circle, this possible alliance is already seen as a way to unblock new investments in fields that require greater technical, operational, and financial complexity, with the possibility of doing so with another state-controlled company. The president explained that Brazil has extensive experience in deep-water exploration and highlighted that while Mexico reached a peak production of 1.8 million barrels per day, she recognized that it must continue to increase the exploration of new fields. A strategy that Sheinbaum's government seeks to partially reverse, as Pemex still maintains a central role, which has discouraged new investors. Furthermore, the previous six-year term of López Obrador was characterized by betting on onshore fields with lower complexity. "It is mainly for oil in deep-water areas."
