Coming on the heels of a significant onshore natural gas discovery in late October, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company, proved Thursday that the country is still targeting offshore reserves as well.

Pemex said production tests on an exploratory well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) confirmed the presence of a natural gas field, with estimated total reserves of 400 Bcf. The Nen Well 1 is about 70 miles northwest of Coatzacoalcos. Pemex said production could reach 27 MMcf/d, which is more than four times the amount of gas the country produced per day in 2010, which the Energy Information Administration estimated at 5.72 MMcf/d.

As part of its strategy to test the hydrocarbon potential of the GOM, Nen Well 1 was drilled to a total depth of more than 14,000 feet in a water depth of nearly 5,000 feet with the semi-submersible platform Centennial.

In late October Mexico’s energy secretary said the nation’s natural gas reserves could grow as much as six-fold after the discovery of large shale gas deposits in the country’s north and east and could enable the country to stop importing natural gas.

In an interview with Radio Formula, Jordy Herrera, Mexico’s Energy Secretary, said significant reserves have been found in Chihuahua and Tamaulipas states along the U.S.-Mexico border, in the northern state of San Luis Potosi and the southeastern state of Veracruz.

Herrera stressed in late October that the development of shale resources in the country needed the full support of Pemex, noting that the state-run company should adopt an aggressive program and embrace hydraulic fracturing because of its success in the United States.

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