RODRIGO BECERRA MIZUNO , CORPORATE DIRECTOR AND CIO AT MEXICO ’ S LARGEST ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTOR , REVEALS HOW TECHNOLOGY IS PLAYING A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OIL AND GAS COMPANY ’ S 2017-2021 BUSINESS PLAN
On 20 December 2013 , Mexico ’ s oil and gas industry entered a new age . Having operated under a monopolised umbrella for 75 years , President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a momentous energy reform bill which opened up the country ’ s largest revenue-generating Technology to private competition .
For national oil and gas giant Petróleos Mexicanos ( Pemex ), this signalled a huge about-turn , an overnight change of course not witnessed since its formation in 1938 .
A massive transformation was required , from a company operating as a monopoly to one that can stand up to competitors . Once charged with delivering hydrocarbon energy across the whole of Mexico at whatever the cost , Pemex is now focused on efficiency , profitability and long-term survival .
It was the enormity of this challenge which lured Corporate Director and CIO Rodrigo Becerra Mizuno away from a decade of servitude at Microsoft .
“ I thought this would be the biggest professional challenge of my career ,” he recalls , “ so when CEO at the time Jose Antonio González Anaya invited me , I was extremely excited . I knew technology would be at the forefront of this transformation .
“ On top of this , Pemex is the largest company in Mexico and one of the largest in the world .”
The numbers back this up . As the eighth largest oil producer and drilling company in the world , Pemex ’ s $ 52bn revenue is equivalent to the entire GDP of Uruguay . It generates 2.5mn barrels of oil and 6mn cubic feet of natural gas a day ,
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