Overview
- President Claudia Sheinbaum, who on Wednesday and Thursday named a panel from UNAM, IPN and research centers, set a roughly two‑month review to judge if non‑conventional gas can be produced with lower impact and said the traditional method will not be used.
- The administration says the goal is energy sovereignty, with a confirmed push on conventional gas fields as non‑conventional extraction stays under evaluation and off the policy books.
- Analysts warn Mexico lacks scale and storage, noting output targets would require on the order of 30,000 wells over a decade and tens of billions of dollars a year, with cheap Texas gas undercutting costs.
- Environmental groups cite heavy water use per well, risks to aquifers and methane leaks, a concern made sharper in arid northern basins such as Burgos that face scarce freshwater.
- Researchers point to mitigations like recycling wastewater, using saline sources and less‑toxic additives, yet say any ramp‑up would take many years and likely need private partners under existing legal frameworks and Pemex’s 2025–2030 plan.