Together with Guyana, two countries in the Americas set to implement the EITI
Mexico and Guyana have submitted EITI candidature applications to be considered by the EITI Board in Manila on 25-26 October.
Mexico – consolidating transparency through the EITI
In 2013 Mexico passed a constitutional reform to allow, for the first time in almost a century, private investment in the Mexican oil and gas sector. One of the central aims of the reforms is to bring transparency to how the sector is managed. From awarding licenses to collecting revenues from the companies to the use of those revenues, the reforms sought to embed transparency in government practices and systems. Since 2016, Mexico has conducted a series of bidding rounds to allocate oil and gas blocks. Other key reforms include the creation of the Mexican National Oil Fund. The EITI is seen as the tool to consolidate these transparency reforms into management of the sector.
More broadly, open government has been a priority for Mexico. From the start the EITI has been linked to other open data platforms. The EITI portal will be part of a number of other tools to ensure the public has access to information from licensing to the use of extractive revenues through to the national budget.
Mexico is the second largest economy in Latin America. The country is believed to have significant potential in both shallow and deep-water oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The bidding rounds conducted in the last year has attracted important investment. Proven oil reserves declined in Mexico in the last decades due to lack of investment. The current strategic plan seeks to increase the prospective volume of resources to 47 billion barrels. All in all, it is expected that Mexico’s oil and gas sector will bring important revenues over the coming years. Mexico EITI will ensure that the public has prompt information about revenue collection.
Mexico’s EITI application is available here.
Guyana to also join the EITI
Guyana, with a population of less than 800,000 habitants and a GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) of USD 7,900, is already a resource-rich country. Gold and bauxite account for more than 40% of total exports. Now Guyana is expected to become a significant oil producer. ExxonMobil and other major companies are developing one of the largest oil discoveries of the past decade. Production is expected to begin by 2020 and the investment for the development phase alone is expected to be over USD 4.4b, equivalent to almost USD 6,000 per citizen.
The Government of Guyana is working with partners such as the IADB and the IMF to put together a solid institutional framework to manage future oil wealth. The EITI is seen as in integral part of this strategy.
Guyana’s EITI application is available here.
