Behind the Scenes of a
Successful Partnership:
An Interview with Sergio Reyes Lujan of the Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo (IMP)

In 2002, Dr. Gustavo Chapela Castañares, Director General of the Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo (IMP), asked the physicist Sergio Reyes Luján to become Director of the Institute’s environmental area. Sergio has rather unique qualifications that make him a well known environmentalist in Mexico. He has served with distinction as Undersecretary of Environment, was founding President of the National Ecological Institute (the Mexican equivalent of the EPA) and was the fourth Rector General of the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City. As Undersecretary of the Environment, Sergio established a personal relationship of trust and confidence with U.S. EPA Coordinator Bill Riley that facilitated the negotiation of difficult environmental issues affecting our common border and brought the U.S. and Mexico closer together to find solutions to common problems. Also significant: Sergio served as the signatory representing Mexico on the Montreal Protocols.

Battelle is working closely with Sergio through our Alliance to support his efforts in bringing together the diverse capabilities from across the Institute and formulating a business plan to market those products and services to PEMEX and other clients. “We don’t have all the expertise we need in order to meet PEMEX’s demands,” stated Sergio.“Our Alliance with Battelle allows us to amplify our product offerings. The Alliance is stronger than the sum of its parts and through our collaboration we will be in a better position to enter into other countries and markets.”

Through the Alliance, we can tackle important problems with a regional impact. Sergio believes that the most serious environmental challenge facing Mexico is water. ’Our aquifers are having a lot of problems due to overexploitation. The second priority issue is deforestation—particularly in the South.”

While awareness of environmental problems has increased in recent years, “the importance of the environmental issues has decreased. . . . People are more interested in jobs, security and economy, than in environment. . . . In general, the environmental interests in the U.S. have decreased as well—We don’t see the presence of the U.S. in environmental issues internationally,” he lamented.

Sergio envisions success for our Alliance, stating that he believes within five years we will be working with state and local governments on water and waste treatment projects. Sergio also believes that “We will be operating together in two or three other countries as well . . . we will have a flagship laboratory in Veracruz managed in collaboration with Battelle.”

For further information, please contact Rick Chidester at (206) 528-3230, chidesterr@battelle.org.