Word: berm
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...Brightness. The man mainly responsible for the new brightness of the Mexican oil picture, and for the reappearance in it of U.S. operators, is Antonio Bermúdez, 53, a handsome, greying Chihuahua industrialist. He was appointed director of the government oil monopoly, Pemex, a few days after President Miguel Alemán took office...
...aging equipment ingeniously held together with baling wire had barely managed to keep established wells producing; hardiy anything had been done in the way of new exploration and drilling. With cabinet rank to help him make needed changes and deal firmly with the high-riding, left-wing oil union, Bermúdez brought in 51 producing wells in 1947 and 83 more the following year. In 1949, Pemex added 180 new wells to bring national production to an estimated 60 million barrels for the year...
...Bermúdez' hunch was that Mexican oil reserves would be needed by the U.S. in case of another war. But most U.S. companies have refused to go back under the poor terms offered by Pemex, the government oil monopoly. Hat in hand, Bermúdez has had to ask the U.S. to put up $200 million for an oil development loan...
Last week Bermúdez' hole card looked more like a trey than an ace. Mexico's oil is not "vital" to U.S. defense, a consultant told the State Department. The consultant was Max W. Ball, a one-time director of the Oil and Gas Division in the Interior Department. Ball reported that Canada, where U.S.-controlled oil companies have already made rich discoveries, "offers more alluring prospects, geologically and politically, than Mexico...
...saved in salaries Bermúdez hopes to plow back into badly needed new equipment. Most important of all, he expects his move to galvanize Pemex's notoriously lethargic working force. "We have more oil than Venezuela, and it is our job to get it up. ... When I get through," he says, "every man in Pemex is going to be on his toes, anxious to win a good record and improve the organization...