THE Mexican government's decision to effectively force state-owned oil company Pemex to prioritise self-sufficiency to the extent that crude exports could disappear by 2024 could have serious repercussions for the country in the long-term. The move to give Pemex an overreaching role in the downstream sector, coupled with actions to restore the monopoly of state-controlled electricity player CFE, is part of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's grand plan to reverse the 2013 energy reform that opened the country's oil sector to investment. With oil exports expected to dwindle from about 1 million barrels per day this year to zero in 2024, Pemex - the world's most indebted energy firm, with borrowings of $115 billion -might find itself in a financially unsustainable position. Mexican reliance on oil export revenues is not what it was, but Lopez Obrador will have to find a way of replacing a revenue stream that still provides his government with 15% of its revenue.
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