Mexico's Lower House Pass Energy Reform Bills

 

Committees in Mexico's lower house on Saturday approved laws fleshing out a landmark energy reform that seeks to drive private investment into the long-shuttered sector.

The so-called secondary laws, which detail the implementation of the constitutional energy reform passed last year, will head to the floor of the lower house, where lawmakers will debate them beginning on Monday.

If they are fully approved in the lower house, some of the secondary laws will head to the Senate for final approval.

The laws passed in committees on Saturday create a new tax framework for Pemex, guidelines for contracts and tax benefits for states where extraction occurs, among other things.

Pledging to reverse a decade of falling oil and gas output, President Enrique Pena Nieto pushed through a reform in December 2013 ending state oil company Pemex's 75-year oil and gas monopoly, and opening the industry up to private capital.

(Reporting by Noe Torres; Editing by David Gregorio)