Mexico national oil company Pemex has approved its second joint venture for the deep water covering the Nobilis-Maximino block in the Mexican territorial Gulf waters. The company is seeking a partner to develop the block, located in the Perdido Fold Belt and estimated to hold crude oil reserves of 500 mboe. An auction is planned for December 2017.
In early 2017, Pemex and Australian company BHP Billiton inked a deal for the development of the offshore deepwater Trion Block, located in the Gulf of Mexico (Mexican part), whose reserves currently stand at 485 Mboe (in the top 10 fields discovered in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade).
The joint venture partnerships result from the 2013 allowing private investors in oil and gas exploration and production and de facto removing Pemex's 75-year long monopoly. Mexico aims to attract more than US$50bn in investments until 2018 to boost its declining oil production (from 169 Mt in 2000 to 142 Mt in 2013).