Mexico fears giant sucking sound of U.S. siphoning Gulf oil
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‘Mexicans fear that oil companies drilling in U.S. waters close to the border will suck Mexican crude into their wells,’ reports The Times’ Marla Dickerson.
‘When they take petroleum from the American side, our petroleum is going to migrate,’ Sen. Francisco Labastida Ochoa, head of the Mexican Senate’s Energy Committee, told the newspaper Milenio recently.’
‘Oil isn’t a simple commodity in Mexico. It’s a powerful symbol of national sovereignty. Rancor over foreigners profiting from its hydrocarbons -- namely America’s Standard Oil -- led Mexico to nationalize its industry in 1938. The state-owned oil company Pemex is forbidden by law from partnering with outsiders to exploit a drop of Mexican crude.’
‘But for a growing chorus of Mexicans, sharing a milkshake is preferable to watching your neighbor drink it up. Mexico has no viable deep-water drilling program to match U.S. efforts near the maritime border. And it lacks an iron-clad legal means to defend its patrimony. Some are urging their government to partner with the U.S. to co-develop border fields or risk losing those deposits.’
-- Reed Johnson in Mexico City
