Energia.com

The scope and purpose of our reporting on Mexico’s energy sector

First, a comment about the format of our reports: they are usually in the range of 6-10 pages, and have five sections: Introduction, Background, Discussion, Observations and Conclusions. Usually there are footnotes with references to online material that complements or documents the reporting.

The content of the reports varies across a wide spectrum of market segments, principally in the categories of upstream, gas transportation, gas distribution, refining, electric power. Renewables have yet to receive our full attention.

We are also interested in reporting on developments in regulation, institutional organization, political and staff appointments and policy development. Naturally, we report on presidential elections, to try to understand the energy thinking of the candidates.

Another dimension of our reporting concerns developments in the global energy industry in diverse dimensions, from regulation, safety, policy and industrial organization. Energy seminars are constantly being held in Houston, and we report on some of these.

We are interested in culture and the national energy narrative and how both are articulated in speech, ceremony and policy.

The common thread of reports on these diverse topics is the idea of global best practices. How, in relation to the topic under discussion, is there an adherence to, or understanding of, global best practices. We believe that Mexico should be measured by global standards, not ones made in, and unique to, Mexico. You could say that any given report of ours aspires to be the public record of the intersection of global standards and Mexican history.

Obviously, no one person has a crystal ball that allows him or her to see the “best practices” in all market segments or areas of public policy. In that sense, our reports have limitations; but within these limitations we aspire to question current policies, regulations and institutional arrangements in order to detect trends toward (or away from) global practices as we understand the issues.

Why read these reports?

The answer to this question may depend in part as to the nationality of the reader. Our readership is about 50/50 of native English speakers and native speakers of other languages. As English, for historical reasons, is the language of the global energy industry; and non-native, professional speakers are therefore required to achieve a competency in the English that corresponds to their career choice.

The fact that these Mexico (and Gulf of Mexico) focused reports are in English is a benefit to professionals for whom English mastery is a life-long challenge.

We have published two reports on HOW TO OVERCOME THE MEXICAN ACCENT ENGLISH, reports that draw on our background in linguistics and decades of hearing English spoken in Mexico. These reports are not about “energy” in any immediate sense, but they are meant to be helpful to non-native speakers in gaining insights as to the subtle differences between English and Spanish pronunciation. (A 4-hour workshop was given to the CRE on March 5 of this year on this topic.)