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Mexico is Soon to be a Bigger Problem
The Anxiety Center ^ | May, 2008 | Alan Caruba

Posted on 05/25/2008 3:40:41 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin

As if the constant flow of illegal aliens and drugs from Mexico were not already a huge problem for the United States, it is about to get worse. When Business Week took notice of Mexico's dwindling oil reserves and failed national oil company, Pemex, in its May 5th edition, it signaled a problem whose significance is as great as the one involving an invading population.

"A Slippery Moment for Mexican Oil" was the title, followed by "Output is tanking, but there's fierce opposition to a plan that could reward Big Oil for helping find new reserves." You have to read through most of the article before you discover that, "Oil output in Mexico, the world's No. 6 producer of crude, is plummeting. At the Cantarell field, the country's main source of oil, production is declining 15% annually…Unless new reserves are found quickly, Mexico-which accounts for 11% of U.S. oil imports-could stop export ing within a decade."

It takes at least a decade between the discovery of new reserves and the infrastructure required to extract it, transport it to a refinery, and then distribute it to consumers.

The May issue of Energy Tribune applauded the efforts of Mexico President Felipe Calderon to free up Pemex sufficiently to encourage exploration and production. "Under the reform, Pemex would be freed from stifling oversight," but noted that, "Its approval is far from certain, and the proposal wouldn't turn Pemex's fortunes around any time soon."

Allan Wall, a U.S. citizen who lives in Mexico, writes some of the most penetrating and accurate commentaries about our neighbor to the south. In May, his Memo from Mexico, provided notice of how bad the problem is and, while not saying so, also reminds us that America with its own vast known and undiscovered reserves of oil, has been wasting time and thwarting access to our oil resources.

Wall begins by reminding us that Mexico is not "poor." Its citizens are not starving and it's home to at least ten billionaires, one of whom is the world's second wealthiest man. It's not that Mexico doesn't have "vast economic potential," but that, "It's just been spectacularly mismanaged."

"Mexico has one of the world's most closed petroleum markets, controlled by the state oil company, Pemex (Petroleos Mexicanos), which is protected from all competition." It enjoys a legal monopoly on the exploration, processing, and sale of petroleum."

Pemex has long been the government's piggy bank, providing up to 40% of the nation's revenues. If any nation could be said to be "addicted" to oil, it's Mexico. You would think that it would have taken steps to explore for more, but you would be wrong. You would be wrong if you thought it had bothered to build new refineries as well. The United States has 150 oil refineries (and needs more), but Mexico only has six and they are aging.

Pemex has been spectacularly mismanaged. In this respect it is not much different from the rest of the world's nationalized oil operations that include unstable governments like those in Africa and South American operations like Venezuela's communist dictator. What this means is that the United States and other oil importing nations are literally at the mercy of governments that do not have to answer to their citizens.

The United States has depended heavily on imports from Canada and Mexico, but the latter nation is a governmental basket case. With ownership of its oil written into its constitution, the prospect of privatizing its oil industry is off the table. Permitting other oil companies to explore for oil is difficult at best under these circumstances. It is a costly and high-risk enterprise at best. Any new discovery would cost in excess of a billion dollars. And you don't hit oil every time you drill.

If oil were not enough of a problem, the billions in drugs that are controlled by the Mexican cartels and purchased by Americans constitute an entire column by itself. We have a narco-army on our border that poses a major threat.

Meanwhile, Mexico has been "solving" the problem of a lack of jobs and opportunities for its people by exporting them to America. The U.S. taxpayers are picking up the bill for these uninvited workers through our education, health, and legal systems to the tune of billions. Congress has been reluctant to close our border with Mexico and the three candidates seeking to be our next president have no plans to slow or stop the invasion.

These are solvable problems if sensible people make sensible changes and encourage investment in their energy sector, but neither the United States, nor Mexico, appears ready to do that. Instead, out of sight of U.S. citizens and Congress, the two governments, in concert with Canada, are re-writing U.S. trade regulations to create a so-called Security and Prosperity Partner ship of North America, undermining the sovereignty of all three nations.

Earlier this month, a lot of people in America celebrated Cinco de Mayo, but a lot of them were not legal citizens.

(Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the website of The National Anxiety Center, www.anxietycenter.com. He blogs at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.)

© Alan Caruba, May 2008


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Mexico; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: aliens; energy; energyprices; immigrantlist; mexico
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To: rottndog

“In other words, Mexico is an utterly corrupt, inept, and incompetent third world toilet.”

Exactly.

My brother has a friend, a 2nd LT in the USAF, who was born and raised in Mexico, but became a citizen, joined the USAF as an enlisted man, went to college, and became an ozzifer. He stated the Mexican people don’t trust their leaders AT ALL, because, regardless of party, they have paid bribes, etc to “get there.”

Truly sad.


21 posted on 05/25/2008 5:50:23 PM PDT by Levante
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To: Bommer

“When Maxine discovered toilet paper for the first time, she screamed because she thought she was melting!”

Well, you have to give her SOME credit. The stupid, racist biotch’s brains were melting!!!!!


22 posted on 05/25/2008 5:53:26 PM PDT by Levante
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To: Red_Devil 232

So ANWR is about the same size in area as South Carolina. Thanks, I didn’t know that.

Is the little red square where they want to drill?


23 posted on 05/25/2008 6:24:09 PM PDT by upchuck (Who wins doesn't matter. They're all liberals. Spend your time and money to take back Congress.)
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To: upchuck

The little red dot is where we want to drill! Amazing is it not?


24 posted on 05/25/2008 6:31:20 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Thank you again.

Not allowing drilling there is the height of ignorance and stupidity.


25 posted on 05/25/2008 6:52:02 PM PDT by upchuck (Who wins doesn't matter. They're all liberals. Spend your time and money to take back Congress.)
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To: SoCalPol

I lived south of you in Imperial Beach from ‘80-’82. I was glad to get out of there even way back then.


26 posted on 05/26/2008 6:28:05 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: beaversmom
I’m not scared. I know congresscritters like Maxine Waters will have the answers to solve these big problems.

Mz Waters has cleverly observed how well the oil industry is working in Mechico, so she wants to duplicate the Pemex success story here by nationalizing the US Oil companies.

Isn't it a bootiful thang how we always elect the brighest and the best? /sarc

27 posted on 05/26/2008 6:35:46 AM PDT by webschooner
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
Mexico has been a problem since 1821. We've fought 2.5 wars over it, and the fragile entente which began in the 1920s has collapsed.

The most disturbing thing about Mexico is that we do not have a clear Mexico policy, at least not one that anybody can understand.

Do we want Mexico as a colony?

Do we want to admit the states of Mexico to the union?

Do we want to occupy Mexico for 50-100 years, and civilize it?

Do we want a nation-sized Gaza strip, simmering behind a wall?

Congress debated Mexico policy incessantly from 1821-1861. If anybody in Congress respected American nationhood and American sovereignty, they'd be debating it again, right now.

28 posted on 05/26/2008 6:42:31 AM PDT by Jim Noble (May 17 was my Tenth Anniversary on FR)
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To: rottndog
In other words, Mexico is an utterly corrupt, inept, and incompetent third world toilet.

Yes, it is. What do you want to do about it?

29 posted on 05/26/2008 6:43:50 AM PDT by Jim Noble (May 17 was my Tenth Anniversary on FR)
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To: TADSLOS
Our congresscritters are going to allow this illegal invasion to go full stroke in another year from now, no matter who wins the White House. It’s all about wielding social services power over a massive voting demographic, reminiscent of FDR and LBJ’s socialism. We think we have it bad now? Wait until we have a couple of million illegals a year storming across the border in to escape their repressive regime and the drug gangs. Mexico is a 3rd world s*&thole and it’s about to turn the US into one as well.

That is a somewhat dark summary, but more or less true. It is beyond foolish to ignore this huge physical and historical FACT of illegal immigration and Mexican corruption.

OTOH, there is no obvious way forward out of the morass, except closing the border, and we know how impossible that is.

30 posted on 05/26/2008 7:10:11 AM PDT by headsonpikes (Genocide is the highest sacrament of socialism.)
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To: Jim Noble
Yes, it is. What do you want to do about it?

At the very least, have national leaders who are willing to escape the pc fascism and discuss Mexico honestly in those terms.
31 posted on 05/26/2008 8:17:36 AM PDT by rottndog (Globull Warming "Science" = garbage in, gospel out.)
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To: headsonpikes
OTOH, there is no obvious way forward out of the morass, except closing the border, and we know how impossible that is

Closing the border is expensive, and there's a good argument to be made that it would make the situation worse in 30 years.

I would rather we conquer and reform Mexico that create a Gaza strip with a population of 100 million.

32 posted on 05/26/2008 9:39:40 AM PDT by Jim Noble (May 17 was my Tenth Anniversary on FR)
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