‘Early mover’ Petronas increases Mexico footprint

Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas has further increased its footprint in Mexico, and is now set to open a new office in the country to strengthen its commitment to the country’s oil and gas sector.

In a recently held licensing round, Petronas has, in partnership with Colombia’s Ecopetrol, been awarded the shallow water Block 6 in the Gulf of Mexico’s Salina Basin.

The Block 6 covers an area of about 559 square kilometers in water depths of between 30 and 80 meters and will be operated by PC Carigali Mexico in a 50:50 partnership with Ecopetrol, the national oil company of Colombia.

“I am pleased with our new partnership with Ecopetrol and I am confident this will bring together our capabilities and expertise for a successful collaboration in the Mexico waters,” said Petronas Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer, Upstream, Datuk Anuar Taib.

In 2016 Petronas was awarded deep water Block 4 and Block 5 in a joint venture partnership following Mexico’s first ever auction of its deep water exploration areas.

Petronas Vice President of Exploration, Upstream, Emeliana Rice-Oxley added, “Mexico is largely underexplored and holds substantial material opportunities. We are very pleased to add Block 6 to our growing exploration portfolio in Mexico, and be one of the early movers in this basin. This is aligned with our strategy to explore for material oil in largely underexplored prospective regions.”

Petronas said it would continue to chart its growth strategy in Mexico, to be supported by a new office in Mexico City that will start operations in Q3, 2017.

Worth noting, with Petronas’ Rice-Oxley speaking about the early movers, some companies have moved earlier than others.

Namely, the Houston-based oil and gas company Talos Energy in July made what it claimed to be a world class, historic oil discovery of more than a billion barrels, at its Zama well offshore Mexico.

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