Mexico president says new oil contracts depend on output, investment

Mexico City — Mexico’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that no new oil and gas contracts will be awarded to private firms if companies already awarded contracts do not produce crude or invest.

“If there’s no production, if they don’t invest, we can’t hand out contracts,” he told a regular news conference.

Lopez Obrador’s administration has canceled auctions designed to bring in private oil companies to work alongside Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos.