Private Sector Oil, Gas Producers Still See ‘Promise’ in Mexico Hydrocarbons

Despite the anti-competitive atmosphere that has pervaded the government of Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, private sector upstream operators that jumped at the chance to enter the country as part of its energy reform continue to show results and tout the potential of Mexico’s oil and gas resources.

Last week during a conference call with investors, Royal Dutch Shell plc CEO Ben van Beurden said Mexico is one of the “promising areas we have in deepwater,” where the focus is on “delivering growth that will offset some of the decline that we will have in other areas.” 

In October, Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) approved Shell’s development plan for the Xuyi-1EXP deepwater well in the Perdido Fold Belt offshore Tamaupilas. Shell...