Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Mexico—the sixth biggest oil producing nation in the world and one of the three main oil exporters to the United States—would appear to have reached a peak oil scenario in which oil output levels are likely to decline sharply in the near term. Meanwhile, the company, which enjoys monopoly status in the Mexican market, suffers from a crisis situation in many aspects, running from major indebtedness to corporate governance to aging infrastructure. The next Mexican president has a number of reform options to choose from, none of them easy.