George Baker, Publisher & Energy Consultant
HOUSTON — UT Austin, in the persona of the Jackson School of Geoscience, in which, a few years ago, Lourdes Melgar was a Fellow, supports the “revitalization of Mexico’s energy sector.” For the slides of the Houston roadshow on October 20, the link is http://bit.ly/MexRndOne.
At that event, there were upwards of 400 persons present, excluding the dozen from SENER, SHCP and CNH. There were two sessions, separated by a networking break. As I did not reenter the ball room until after the second session had begun, I did not hear (and only learned a few days later) that “members of the media” were invited to leave the room, as the presentations were not meant for the ears and eyes of the public [“off-the-record”?].
Normally, the term “roadshow” applies to the presentation of specific investment opportunities, with technical descriptions and an indication of commercial terms. In the present case, however, what was shown as a palette of potential opportunities, with an enunciation of the general principles according to which the type of contract, fiscal terms and bidding variable will be defined in a given lease auction in the future.
The event was one to promote the commercial aura of Mexico, not one to focus investor attention on specific investment opportunities. The message of Mexico’s new commercial aura has been taken to Cancun, Houston, Amsterdam and London; and similar events are scheduled for New York (November 17), Calgary, Abu Dhabi and, possibly, Asia. Presumably, this route will have to be retraced, once, that is, special opportunities are available for investor review.
The Houston event was received favorably, as the audience (which included persons who had flown to Houston from Mexico for the occasion) gladly extended to the authorities the benefit of whatever doubts they may have.
George Baker
Publisher
MEXICO ENERGY INTELLIGENCE®
ENERGIA.COM
