U.S. and Mexican negotiators on February 20th reached a deal – called The Transboundary Agreement – that would regulate oil and gas development along the countries’ maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico. The Agreement would allow each country to oversee the environmental and safety protocols of the other, and could by June open 1.5 million acres of U.S. offshore territory for oil and gas development. The U.S. Interior Department estimates that the area in question “contains as much as 172 million barrels of oil and 300 billion cubic feet of natural gas, relatively modest amounts by the oil-rich gulf’s standards.” [New York Times]
“Mexico doesn’t have the resources to combat a major oil spill, and the United States does,” said Jorge Piñon, a former president of Amoco Oil Latin America and a current research fellow at the University of Texas. “Coordination and sharing communications, training, personnel, equipment and technology are essential for safe and productive drilling.” Mexico is the U.S.’s number 2 oil supplier, behind Canada.
The Agreement must be ratified by lawmakers.
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