I was in Brownsville on Wednesday, June 4, at a panel on energy matters with Congressmen Gene Green and Fil Vela. I told the audience that I had been invited to an energy conference in Tokyo in March; and that the organizers of that conference wanted to know if the dynamic of the Texas shale revolution could be exported to Mexico (and, by extension, to East Asia).
Referring to the Shale Revolution in Texas, I told the congressmen and the 80 attendees at the box-lunch event that “The eyes of East Asia are upon you, not only the eyes of Texas.”
One question at the panel was asked about security in Mexico. Only afterwards did I recall the answer that I should have given: the one that Juan Carlos Zepeda, CNH’s commissioner-president, gave at an OTC reception on May 5. “The effect of the implementation of the energy reform will be to strengthen security.”
The link below gives highlights of the panel:
http://m.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_572c315c-eebb-11e3-8d0b-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm
I turned down an invitation to have dinner at Garcia’s in Matamoros, on the strength of the advice of a dozen people whom I questioned about this idea. Only two people acknowledged going to Matamoros: A UT-Brownsville professor who attends a monthly breakfast meeting of the maquiladora industry, and the receptionist at my the Hampton Inn who told me that she had taken her puppy to a vet. When? I asked. “About 4 p.m. I wouldn’t go at night.”
After the panel, some of us had a tour of the Port of Brownsville by the Port Director Eddy Campirano, who told us that there are 5 (five) LNG regasification permits in progress for his port. The port has the potential to become the logistics hub of the Mexican energy reform in the northern onshore and offshore regions. Visit www.portofbrownsville.com.
After the tour, in the company of logistics consultant Joe Linck (naftamarine@aol.com), we made my first visit to the famed South Padre Island, a popular destination for vacationers and surplus capital from Monterrey. The beaches are a lot more inviting than are those of Galveston, but do not reach the standards of those of Coronado (where I had a privileged ten years of childhood, from 5th grade through high school).
The next day, in Corpus Christi, Joe and I were given a tour of the port, where Cheniere has bought 500 acres for a 2nd LNG plant. Of $15 billion in new investment commitments, 90% are related to developments in shale oil and gas. Visit http://www.portofcorpuschristi.com.
