Mexico: The promise of oil

Mexican oil and gas discoveries in the 1970s catapulted Mexico into the ranks of the premier oil exporting nations of the world almost overnight. Quite understandably, such spectacular finds during a period of global petroleum shortages and price increases focused American public attention on Mexico more intensely than at any time in memory. Mexico has traditionally been one of the prime areas for US private investment in the developing world. The extensive US presence in the Mexican economy is both a source of contention for Mexican nationalists and a factor drawing continuing US attention to the Mexican economy. Mexican authorities’ attitudes toward foreign investment, particularly US investment, have been ambivalent for decades. Mexico’s vast petroleum discoveries have fundamentally altered the traditional relationship with the United States. From the US perspective, Mexico’s economic and strategic significance have risen incalculably. For Mexico, oil represents an important opportunity to end its historic dependency on the United States.