Mexico's tax authority revises import permit rules, favoring state Pemex

摘要

Mexico's tax and customs authority, or SAT, has said it will no longer issue or renew petroleum import and export permits to companies other than state oil and gas company Pemex, a move market observers said would limit competition, even in the upstream sectors. The rule change, which went into effect June 14 but was announced June 11, was the latest in a series of attempts by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration to weaken, and eventually overturn, Mexico's energy liberalization. The move came several days after a June 6 election that gave more power to López Obrador's MORENA party.