Mexico proposes new tax regime for Pemex

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's government on Sunday proposed replacing state oil monopoly Pemex's heavy taxation scheme with a new, more flexible regime similar to those faced by private companies. The plan is part of a fiscal reform announced by President Enrique Pena Nieto, which also aims to wean Mexico's government off its dependence on Pemex's aging oil fields for its tax revenue. That would free up Pemex to invest more of its own revenue to exploit new and mature oil and gas fields in a bid to stem a slide in output over nearly a decade. The new scheme, which would take effect in January, 2015, would replace the existing regime based on an ordinary hydrocarbon tax with one based on more flexible payments to the government that includes royalties, dividend payments and income taxes. It would also include the creation of a trust that would manage and administer funds from the sale of oil. The government collects about a third of the federal budget from Pemex in taxes. The tax plan flanks an energy reform that Pena Nieto presented last month which aims to open up the oil industry to more private investment. (Reporting by Adriana Barrera and Alexandra Alper; editing by Christopher Wilson)