February 2012
Peso gains as U.S. home sales boost confidence
Bloomberg - Mexico’s peso rose as an improvement in U.S. home sales buoyed optimism that the expansion in the Latin American country’s biggest trade partner is strengthening. The peso gained 0.1 percent to 12.8907 per U.S. dollar.
Stocks close lower; IPC index drops 0.4%
Dow Jones - Mexico's stocks closed lower Monday as U.S. equities struggled to hold on to early gains, and investors remained somewhat cautious about the European debt situation. TheIPC index closed down 0.4 percent at 37,786 points.
Analysis: Mexico is in no rush to exploit its shale oil bonanza
Submitted by mexbiznews on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 4:10amBy Mica Rosenberg
Reuters
Mexico might be sitting on a vast untapped reserve of shale oil just south of the Rio Grande, but state monopoly Pemex is showing little urgency to exploit their share of the bounty.
While U.S. energy companies are racing to drill more wells in the oil-rich Eagle Ford shale play that geologists say extends well south of the border, Mexican energy officials and Pemex executives appear unrushed.
Mexico has the world's fourth-largest reserve of shale gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in deposits that can contain rich pockets of both natural gas and more profitable oil. But Mexico has not yet quantified the scale of its resources.
"We don't have an estimate for shale oil," Pemex's head of exploration and production Carlos Morales said in an interview. "We are hoping by the end of the year we will have a clearer idea of where the resources are, how big they are and their quality."
But with a spending plan still focused on probing deeper into the Gulf of Mexico's conventional oil fields, Pemex has little time or money left for onshore shale.
It has drilled one well so far and plans to drill another 175 wells by 2015 in the entire country, while last year alone Texas issued 2,828 drilling permits just for Eagle Ford.
www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/27/us-mexico-shale-idUSTRE81Q20Q20120227
Empresas ICA 4th quarter net rises 82%
Dow Jones - Empresas ICA, Mexico's biggest construction company, said Monday its net profit nearly doubled in the fourth quarter as solid growth in sales and operating profit more than compensated for an increase in financial costs.
Carso 4th quarter net falls on higher financial costs
Dow Jones - Mexican industrial and retail conglomerate Grupo Carso said Monday that its net profit fell 18 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as higher interest payments and the effect of spinoffs offset double-digit growth.
Samsung's Tijuana complex is "secret" to success in Americas
Submitted by mexbiznews on Mon, 02/27/2012 - 6:17am
By Francisco Rubio / CNNExpansión
Located in Tijuana, Baja California, the Samsung plant might be one of the biggest "secrets" behind the success of the company in the Americas.
With a total area of ??nearly 600,000 square kilometers and a cumulative investment of $800 million, since its establishment in 1988 the plant of the Korean factory became the largest producer of televisions worldwide, with figures exceed 13.26 million units per year.
"By 2012 we hope to increase our production 2 percent. ... Our figures might sound low, but we want to reach 13.6 million units without expanding the plant," said Hiram Moncivais Pinedo, Samsung's vice president of operations Mexicana.
www.cnnexpansion.com/negocios/2012/02/24/tijuana-el-secreto-detras-de-samsung
Europe left to dig deeper after G20 rebuff
Bloomberg - European leaders shift their focus this week to bolstering the euro region’s debt-crisis firewall after the Group of 20 nations rebuffed their call for help. The onus now falls to Germany.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/europe-left-to-dig-deeper-after-g-20-rebuffs-call-for-help.html
22 tourists robbed in bus attack near Puerto Vallarta
AP - Mexican security officials say an armed group has robbed 22 foreign tourists who were traveling by bus near the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta. The tourists weren't injured although their possessions were seized.
www.newsday.com/news/22-tourists-robbed-in-mexico-bus-assault-1.3559485
TransCanada wins contract to build natural gas pipeline
Power Engineering - TransCanada Corp. has been awarded a 25-year contract to build, own and operate the Tamazunchale Pipeline Extension in Mexico. TransCanada expects to invest approximately $500 million in the pipeline.
BRICS leaders eye World Bank, IMF leadership
Times of India - The battle between the developed and the developing world has now manifested itself into a fight for the control of the top positions in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
indiatoday.intoday.in/story/brics-leaders-eye-top-world-bank-job/1/175454.html
