Petroleum Development in Mexico

The development of any industrial enterprise will have spatial effects on the region in which it operates (Schliephake, 1977, p.5). Such effects might include attracting a pool of labor, expanding the demand for locally produced goods and services, and spurring the development of ancillary industry (Schliephake, 1977, p.4). They might also include increasing the general wealth of the community and making possible the building of roads and factories, as well as the improvement of public utilities, health services, and education facilities (Schliephake, 1977, p.4). This scenario, however, generally does not apply to the petroleum industry.

All mining is speculative in nature (Schliephake, 1977, p.5). It is subject to the hazards and unpredictability of geology (Schliephake, 1977, p.5). In the petroleum industry, the scattered location of deposits and the recurring interstate exchange create a world oil market (Schliephake, 1977, p.5). As a result, management of oil enterprises tends to be uniform; the industry has similar national and regional impacts regardless of the state in which it develops (Schliephake, 1977, p.5).

One of oil mining's impacts is that it tends to be less labor and more capitalintensive (Schliephake, 1977, p.8). Often in developing countries it is the sole source of incoming foreign currency (Schliephake, 1977, p.5). In addition, the revenues generated are usually at the disposal of

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Grayson, 1980, p. 78). Furthermore, not only is everything from schools to hotel rooms to potable water in short supply, but Villahermosa also has the nation's sharpest rate of inflation (Grayson, 1980, p. 78). In addition, the growth has been polarized. Farmers, cattle ranchers, and fishermen have abandoned their traditional occupations to get a job with PEMEX: the lowest daily PEMEX wage being ten times greater than compensation earned by agricultural workers (Grayson, 1980, p. 78). Thus, as the interior areas of Mexico are deserted, farmland is not tilled; thus forcing Mexico to import food (Grayson, 1980, p. 78). Additionally, the activities of PEMEX crews worsen the situation by destroying large tracts of fertile terrain and contaminating rivers and estuaries (Grayson, 1980, p. 79). Drilling in waterways saves PEMEX money, but has also resulted in irreparable damage to marine spawning grounds, food chains, and habitats (Grayson, 1980, p. 79). In 1977, Alejandro Yanez, director of the National University's Institute of Marine Science and Limnology, warned that drilling in the state of Campeche had so contaminated the Laguna de Termino that its shrimp population faced extinction (Grayson, 1980, p. 79). Other effects
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Approximate Word count = 2059
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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