LatAmOil: US legislators urge Biden to examine Mexican energy policy

Twenty US senators and representatives, including members of both the Democratic and Republican parties, have urged President Joe Biden to take a closer look at the Mexican government’s energy policy in light of the challenges faced by US oil, gas and power companies working in Mexico.

In the letter, the legislators voiced serious concerns about the measures that the administration of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has taken to insulate state-run organisations from competition. They said they had expressed similar worries in a letter to former President Donald Trump last year and thanked US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai, a Biden administration official, for drawing attention to the matter during a recent visit to Mexico.

The letter to Biden drew criticism from Lopez Obrador, who stressed that the 20 signatories only represented a small fraction of the 435 members of the US Congress. “There is really no problem," he was quoted as saying by Argus Media last week. “Mexico’s situation is exceptional, unbeatable for investment. We see, as always, some who protest, but they are an insignificant minority.”