Pemex To Partner With Foreign Companies As Soon As This Year

Petroleos Mexicanos or Pemex, the fifth-largest oil producer in the world and a state-owned enterprise, will begin partnering with foreign companies as soon as the end of this year, the company’s chief executive officer told Bloomberg reporters.

CEO Emilio Lozoya said Pemex expects to increase its crude output in mature fields with proven reserves that currently only yield minimum amounts.

“On the exploration and production side, the deals that should close the earliest will likely be in mature fields,” Lozoya said. “With enhanced recovery or secondary recovery techniques, we could ramp up the recovery of those mature fields by multiples.”

Pemex’s production has fallen for nine straight years. In 2013, output fell to 2.52 million barrels per day from 3.3 million per day 2004, Bloomberg said Tuesday.

“We are already having important discussions with players, not only in deep water, but in mature fields and other areas in Mexico,” Lozoya said. “We hope to be announcing some deals towards the end of 2014, early 2015.”

Mexico passed a law in December that opened up Pemex to foreign investment for the first time in 75 years. In January, Lozoya effectively ended Pemex's decades-long monopoly by signing a deal with Russian oil firm Lukoil. Pemex intends to boost production by as much as 4 million barrels per day by 2025.

Lozoya also said North America would become the world’s cheapest source of energy if Canada, Mexico and the U.S. combined resources. His plea for partnership comes just before the leaders of the three nations gather in Toluca, Mexico, for a summit on Wednesday.