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Mexico to Explore New Oil Fields, Build Natural Gas Processing Plants

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 09:00 CST

Mexico to explore new oil fields, build natural gas processing plants

MEXICO CITY, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Mexico will explore oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico and will build plants to process imported natural gas, Energy Minister Fernando Canales told reporters on Monday.

Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the government oil company, will explore the Noxal deep water deposit, considered one of the country's best oil prospects, one of a range of natural gas and crude oil supply projects planned by the government, Canales said.

Pemex will also search for oil in Veracruz state, in southeastern Mexico, and Tamaulipas, on the border with the United States.

In coming months, Mexico will build regasification plants in the ports of Altamira, Tamaulipas; Ensanada, in the northeastern state of Baja California and in Manzanillo, in western Mexico.

Altamira will process Nigerian gas, Esenada will process Russian or Indonesian gas, while Manzanillo will process Bolivian or Peruvian gas, Canales said.

In 2005, Mexico produced an average of 3.3 million barrels a day of crude oil. The country needs the new finds to maintain or boost oil production.

Mexico's oil sector produces 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product, and pays nearly 37 percent of the nation's taxes.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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