Trafigura Group Mexico oil and gas director Katia Eschenbach has left the company as nationalist energy policy in Latin America’s second-largest economy poses challenges for commercial companies.
Eschenbach had led the company’s operations in Mexico for 12 years, aiming to capitalize on the country’s energy market overhaul under the previous administration, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Eschenbach did not return messages seeking comment and Trafigura said in a statement that it does not comment on personnel matters.
Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodities trading houses, is among a number of foreign companies that have faced difficulties operating in Mexico under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s nationalist energy policies, which have including cancellation of permits for fuel imports and terminal projects.
AMLO, as the president is known, suspended Trafigura’s fuel import contracts in 2021, claiming the company was transporting contraband fuel. Trafigura denied the accusation and resumed normal operations in Mexico last year. The company was also banned from trading oil with Petroleos Mexicanos’ PMI unit amid corruption allegations about two years ago.
