Trafigura Group Mexico Oil and Gas Director Katia Eschenbach has left the company as the nationalist energy policy in Latin America’s second-largest economy poses challenges for trading firms.
Eschenbach had led the firm’s operations in Mexico for 12 years, with a goal of profiting from the country’s energy market revamp under the previous administration, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Eschenbach didn’t return messages seeking comment, and Trafigura said in a statement that it doesn’t comment on personnel matters.
Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodity trading houses, is among a number of foreign firms that have faced difficulties operating in Mexico under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s nationalist energy policies, which have included canceling permits for fuel imports and terminal projects.
AMLO, as the president is known, suspended Trafigura’s fuel-import contracts in 2021, claiming that the company was transporting contraband fuel. Trafigura denied the accusation and resumed normal operations in Mexico last year. The firm also was banned from trading oil with Petroleos Mexicanos’ PMI unit amid allegations of corruption about two years ago.
Source.- El Financiero
