Petrobras courting Mexico’s Pemex in US oil fields

Brazil’s state oil company Petrobras is trying to interest its Mexican counterpart Pemex in joining one of its offshore exploration projects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a Petrobras executive said on Thursday.

State-controlled Pemex is banned by law from forming joint ventures in oil exploration and production within Mexico, but it is allowed to form joint ventures abroad.
Samir Awad, executive manager for the Americas, Africa and Eurasia, said Petrobras suggested working together in U.S. waters as part of an informal cooperation agreement the two companies have had for some time.

“This was offered some time ago on a very informal basis, in a meeting between the two (chief) executives, without any particular block or area in mind,” Awad said by e-mail.

He said Pemex’s response was that it could not accept the offer in the near term, for internal reasons, but that it would evaluate the possibility of joining Petrobras in the U.S. Gulf in the medium to long term.

Reuters