Natural resources, energy and environment
Mexico is rich in natural resources. The
country is the world's largest silver producer, with
major mines in the states of Chihuahua and Zacatecas.
Mexico is also a major producer of gold, zinc, lead,
copper, iron and several other metals and minerals. Oil
has long been a pillar of the economy.
In Mexico, there are large smelters, and most of the
ore is processed in the domestic industry. The mining
sector was deregulated during the 1990s and the largest
mines are now privately owned.
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COUNTRYAAH:
Major exports by Mexico with a full list of the top products exported by the country. Includes trade value in U.S. dollars and the percentage for each product category.
In terms of oil, Mexico ranks tenth place among the
world's largest producers. The first oil was found
around 1900 and the assets were nationalized. Much of
the crude oil production comes from the Cantarell and
Ku-Maloob-Zaap fields in the Gulf of Campeche in the
Gulf of Mexico. However, the assets there are pushing
faster than previously thought and no new reserves have
been found in the area. Production has fallen steadily
and in principle halved in 2018 compared to a top
listing in 2004. Untouched oil and natural gas assets
are believed to exist in deep water in the Gulf of
Mexico and in shale fields, but Mexico lacks the
knowledge and technology for extraction in such places.
Oil production is managed by the state-owned company
Pemex, which is the country's largest company, employer
and industrial investor. It is also a dairy cow for the
state; the company generates one-third of the federal
budget. Pemex's monopoly on all aspects of oil
extraction has been enshrined in the constitution since
1938 and considered to be almost sacred to many
Mexicans. Plans for a change that would allow
privatization have been hampered by strong political
opposition, previously also by PRI. However, President
Enrique Peña Nieto (2012–2018) received support to open
up the oil industry to private interests. But his
successor, left-wing President Andres Manuel López
Obrador, has put an end to the oil auctions for private
companies launched, and Pemex is no longer allowed to
enter into joint ventures with other players.
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Mexico.
Mexico is not a member of the oil-exporting
countries' organization Opec, but has adapted to its
efforts to influence oil prices through production
quotas.
Most of the country's energy needs are covered by oil
and natural gas. Gas is being used extensively in the
power plants, despite Mexico being a net importer of
natural gas. Coal, hydropower, renewable sources and
nuclear power are the rest.
The extensive use of fossil fuels contributes to
major environmental problems. Mexico City is one of the
dirtiest cities in the world, thousands of people are
estimated to die each year due to air pollution. A law
passed in 2012 means that greenhouse gas emissions
should be reduced by half by 2050. According to the
binding law, 35 percent of energy must come from
renewable energy sources in 2024.
Deforestation has led to almost half of the primeval
forest that existed half a century ago now gone. But
perhaps the most serious problem in the long run is that
the supply of clean drinking water is steadily
declining. The government considers both the decline in
forests and the lack of water as well as national
security issues. Mexico actually has strict
environmental legislation, but corruption, lack of money
and low interest in environmental issues among the
population undermines the efforts.
FACTS - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Energy use per person
1,475 kilograms of oil equivalent (2015)
Electricity consumption per person
2071 kilowatt hours, kWh (2014)
Carbon dioxide emissions in total
480 271 thousand tonnes (2014)
Carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant
3.9 tonnes (2014)
The share of energy from renewable sources
9.2 percent (2015)
2015
December
Card conductors are found murdered
Carlos Rosales Mendoza, founder of one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels,
La Familia Michoacana, is found dead in a car in Michoacán. He and three others
who were found at the same time were, by all accounts, tortured and killed
elsewhere and then dumped in the car at a pay station on a motorway. Rosales
Mendoza was included in the list of America's most wanted criminals.
November
New unit will investigate student disappearance
A special unit of police, prosecutors and forensic doctors is set up to
investigate the case of the missing students, led by the IACHR. The authorities
thus give in to parents' demands (see also September 2014 and
September 2015).
September
Criticism for handling student disappearance
Investigators from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR),
which is investigating the case of the 43 missing teacher students (see
September 2014), reject the authorities' version of what happened as
unreliable, as it is not possible to find evidence that the bodies were burned
landfill. The IACHR investigators say that they have been hindered in their
investigation and that evidence has been destroyed. The National Human Rights
Commission has also recently criticized the authorities' handling of the
disappearance. The case has been handled subordinately legally and the relatives
have received very little support, the report states. The relatives continue
with their protest actions. The government is now ordering a new investigation.
More than 100 people have been arrested since the disappearance.
August
Journalist murder provokes anger
The murder of a journalist from Veracruz triggers demonstrations in Mexico
City, Guadalajara and Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, against the state
government and especially Governor Javier Duarte. Press photographer Rubén
Espinosa had left the state in June when he felt threatened to life - but was
found murdered in an apartment in the capital. There were also four murdered
women in the apartment. All had been tortured. Espinosa became the seventh
journalist in Mexico to be murdered in 2015. A man is arrested immediately after
the murder and later a former police officer is arrested, suspected of
involvement.
July
Important verdict in the fight against trafficking in women
A Chihuahua court sentenced five men to 697 years in prison for the murder of
eleven women. The women must have been tricked into prostitution and drug
trafficking, and then murdered when they were no longer considered useful. The
target is seen as potentially very important in the fight against the widespread
phenomenon of violence and, not least, the murder of women. According to the UN,
Mexico is one of the 20 worst countries in the world in terms of violence
against women.
First bidding on oil field
The historic, first sale of concessions is carried out, for 14 oil fields in
the Gulf of Mexico. The outcome is worse than expected: for nine fields no bids
came and for three low bids were lower than the requirements. The two fields
that are distributed go to a Mexican-dominated consortium, Sierra Oil & Gas.
The leader of the Sinaloa cartel once again holds
Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán again manages to escape from
a high security prison (see February 2014), this time through a
1.5 kilometer tunnel. Prison staff are suspected of interference in the
spectacular escape which is very troublesome for President Peña Nieto. Several
prison managers are fired after the escape and a reward is announced for the
equivalent of SEK 32 million for information that leads to Guzmán being
arrested.
June
Mexico leaves beauty contest because of Trump
Mexico withdraws from the popular Miss Universe TV contest, in protest of
partner Donald Trump saying "racist" about Mexicans in announcing his candidacy
in the 2016 US presidential election. Trump's statements have received NBC and
two other TVs company to break the cooperation with him. The real estate magnate
called Mexicans for drug dealers and rapists, and said he wants to build a wall
against Mexico - at the expense of Mexicans.
Teacher evaluations resume after a temporary halt
The disputed teacher evaluations (see September 2013) resume
after a short break. The Ministry of Education's announcement in May that they
would be canceled was assumed to be an attempt to curb the protests of the
teaching profession CNTE, which was unsuccessful. CNTE has continued to demand
that education reform be scrapped. When evaluations resume, CNTE announces an
indefinite strike in Oaxaca and Michoacán.
Success for PRI in midterm elections
7 June
The PRI government is doing well in the congressional elections and is
supported by about 29 percent of voters. Together with its alliance parties PVEM
and the New Alliance (Panal), PRI retains its majority in the Chamber of
Deputies, with slightly more mandates than before (260 out of 500). The PRD
makes a disaster choice as many voters follow López Obrador and cast their votes
on the newly formed Left Party Morena. At the state level, PRI suffers some
stinging defeats. In Nueva León, for the first time, an independent candidate is
elected governor.
May
Many dead in fire fighting with police
A firefight in Tanhuato, Michoacán, near the border with Jalisco, requires 43
lives. One is said to be a police officer and the rest are suspected gang
members. The collapse, which is one of the bloodiest in nearly a decade in
Mexico, breaks out when security forces enter a property that armed men are said
to have taken over. Relatives of the dead accuse the authorities of having
committed a "massacre". Only 40 weapons have been seized, which security experts
say strengthens the image of the assault.
April
New anti-corruption law
Congress adopts a law against corruption that, according to critics, is not
far enough, because the president and other leading politicians still have
prosecutorial immunity.
Assault against police officers in Jalisco
Fifteen police officers are shot dead and five injured in an assault on a
Jalisco road. In the same state, five police officers were killed in an assault
in March. It is unclear who is behind the attacks described as well-organized.
In the area is the Jalisco nueva generación, one of the most powerful drug
cartels in the country.
March
The leader of the Zeta cartel is arrested
Just days after "La Tuta", Zeta cartel leader Omar Treviño Morales, in
Monterrey, is also arrested. He has been appointed as the group's leader since
his brother was arrested (see July 2013). Treviño Morales also
shows up in front of the TV cameras on his way to the high-security prison
outside Mexico City.
February
The most elaborate drug king is seized
Police in Michoacán seize the most wanted drug king in the country, Servando
"La Tuta" Gómez. His brother Flavio Gómez, financial manager of the cartel, is
also arrested, as well as another eight people. "La Tuta" is flown to Mexico
City where he shows up for the TV cameras before being taken to prison.
January
Missing journalist is found murdered
Three weeks after he was kidnapped from his home, journalist Moisés Sánchez
is found with his head cut off. Sánchez wrote about drug-related violence and
corruption in the state of Veracruz. Thirteen police officers have been arrested
following the abduction and one must have acknowledged participation in the
murder of him. According to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), 97
journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2010.
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