Speaking earlier to CNBC on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Exhibition & Conference, the CEO of the Mexican oil firm PEMEX told CNBC that he hopes the relationship with the United States will grow in the energy sector.
“Energy was not part of NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement), because it was a closed sector,” Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya, CEO of PEMEX told CNBC. “Now that’s open, I hope the relationship can only grow,” he added.
Mexico and the U.S. have been embroiled in a tense political fight since President Donald Trump took office. Trump said last month that the 23-year-old trade deal between the U.S., Canada and Mexico will come to an end, if they cannot agree on how to reform it.
“We have to protect our workers. So we’ll see what happens with NAFTA, but I’ve been opposed to NAFTA for a long time, in terms of the fairness of NAFTA,” Trump said during a visit to Canada.
Anaya told CNBC that Mexico exports about a million barrels of oil to the U.S. a day and imports about 700,000 barrels of diesel and gasoline. Anaya said he hopes that the political rhetoric will not overcome the economic logic when both countries talk trade.
