López Obrador speaks at his morning press conference as Pemex CEO Romero looks on.
The president has vetoed fracking operations that the state oil company had planned to carry out at a site in Tamaulipas.
On Tuesday, the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) granted Pemex approval for hydraulic fracturing in the Huampa oil field. On Wednesday, it was vetoed by President López Obrador.
He told his morning press conference that the fracking request had been filed last November, but in fact it was filed by Pemex in February, in spite of López Obrador’s longtime opposition to the use of fracking to extract shale oil and gas.
During his election campaign last year he pledged that he would ban its use.
The plan approved by the CNH represented an investment of US $20 million over three years in the Tamaulipas field.
The Mexican Alliance Against Fracking said it was alarming that plans by Pemex and approvals by the CNH would ignore the president’s often-stated stand against hydraulic fracturing.
Source: Milenio (sp)
