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“We, as a major institutional investor, are concerned that transition risk – the large and growing gap between government targets and company ambitions – is a major source of investment risk,” Helena Vines Fiestas, global head of stewardship and policy at BNP Paribas Asset Management, added.
“There is no doubt that oil and gas com- panies are in a difficult position in navigating
the transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Euan Stirling, global head of stewardship and ESG investing at Aberdeen Standard Invest- ments. “That makes it all the more important that we have at least some sector constituents who are starting to respond to the climate crisis by repositioning their businesses from the top down in the same way that many power gener- ators have.”.
Mexican government strikes deal with another gas pipeline contractor
MEXICO
MEXICO’S government has struck an agree- ment with Fermaca, a domestic company, on the revision of natural gas pipeline contracts signed when the previous government was still in power.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced the deal on September 11, during his daily press briefing. He described it as a positive development, saying it would help avert legal action. “It’s progress for various reasons, firstly because we avoided bringing the conflict to international courts, and secondly because the contracts are being fulfilled,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Fermaca is one of four companies involved in the gas pipeline contracts that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador began trying to rene- gotiate earlier this year. The other three – TC Energy (Canada), IENova (the Mexican subsid- iary of US-based Sempra Energy) and Grupo Corso (owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim) – have already made a deal with the presi- dent and his administration.
In late August, Lopez Obrador divulged some details of that deal, saying that the companies
had agreed to reduce their transportation fees for shipments of US gas heading into Mexico. At the time, he said that this rate cut would save the country $4.5bn over a period of 20 years.
Since then, the national power provider CFE, which had initiated the campaign to revise the pipeline contracts, has provided a partial break- down of the president’s figure. It said in late August that total savings from the agreement with Grupo Corso, IENova and TC Energy were likely to amount to $3.74bn.
Manuel Bartlett, the head of CFE, explained on September 11 that the lower figure only covered the agreements with the three compa- nies named above. Speaking at the same press briefing as Lopez Obrador, he said Fermaca’s willingness to accept a lower amount for gas transportation would save the country’s tax- payers another $672mn, thereby bringing total savings up to nearly $4.5bn.
The pipeline deals open the door for Mexico to complete work on a network of new pipelines that will facilitate the delivery of gas from Texas. The links will help the country increase gas import volumes by 40%..
Fermaca’s pipeline will help Mexico import more US gas (Photo: SICIM)
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 37 19•September•2019
