The lower house of the Mexican parliament has passed a controversial bill that will give state-owned oil major Pemex more sway over the Mexican fuel market. Bloomberg reports that the house voted 301 in favor and 147 against the proposal, which will remove a stipulation from an earlier law that requires the state energy market regulator CRE to prioritize fuel sales from private companies as a way of leveling their playing field with Pemex. According to the backers of the change, the field is level enough for the state-help provision to be removed. The bill now needs to pass through the Senate. The bill is part of efforts by the Lopez Obrador government to reinstate Pemex as the monopoly on the local energy market. Last year, as part of efforts to return control of the energy industry to the state’s hand, the AMLO government also drafted an infrastructure plan […]