Mexico’s pemex, billionaire SLIM re -negotiated deep -water natural gas project

Mexico billionaire investors and national drillers re -negotiating agreement

Lakach will make Mexico closer to energy independence, but development is difficult

Trump tariff threats improve the urgency of developing natural gas fields

By Stefanie Eschenbacher and Adriana Barrera

Mexico City, January 31 (Reuters) -The Mexican billionaire investor Carlos Slim’s team and state energy company Pemex are discussing a major change in transactions in order to develop the country’s first In the field of deep water, five familiar sources told Reuters.

Grupo Carso, Mexican Holdings, signed an agreement last year to cooperate with Pemex to develop Lakach Field in the Gulf of Mexico, trying to restore the project twice due to high costs.

Since then, the relationship between Mexico and the United States has been under pressure from Cartels, Donald Trump, a large -scale deportation and military strike on Cartels.

In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government doubled hard work, which began with her predecessor during Trump’s first president, so that the country was relieved from the natural gas imported from the United States. Essence

Sources said that the representatives of Pemex and Grupo Carso have discussed different plans to make Lakach profitable, which is lower than the initial estimation.

Four sources said that Grupo Carso hopes to add two nearby areas with similar expected resources, and Piklis and KUNAH have improved the potential profitability of the joint venture.

It is unclear that the number of increases in these two areas (the two sources call the final determination) will increase the price of investment in one information, and these investment will obtain a smaller political influence.

Pemex did not immediately respond to the comment request. Slim spokesman refused to comment.

Sources do not require naming because they have no right to speak publicly on this issue.

In recent years, SLIM has been increasing investment in the energy field and has owned shares in Zama, IChalkil and Pokoch in the shallow water field.

Piklis and Kunah were announced by the government of Sheinbaum last year as strategic priority, because Pemex’s goal was to increase the overall natural gas output to 500 million cubic feet (CFD) per day, high In 3.7 billion pesos.

Three sources said Slim’s team also proposed the possibility of putting the joint venture on the ice or pulling out.

According to official records, the earlier development plan in this field was founded in 2026, with a relatively short production range of eight years. Sources said that this schedule looks unlikely.

The field is about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the port of Veraston’s Bay, and it is estimated to have a 900 billion cubic foot gas.

Another source added that Lakichea needs more investment and they review the development plan. The pressure on the existing well there is very low, making production challenges.

Official records show that since 2007, they have drilled another seven well because they have not produced any gasoline.

So far, PEMEX has spent $ 1.4 billion and has been authorized by regulatory agencies to spend another $ 400 million.

The decline in gasoline prices has increased the challenge of investment profit.

One of the sources said that the spot price of the natural gas of the benchmark Henry Hub was about $ 3 per million BTU, a decrease of about one -third from a year ago, far lower than the million dollars BTU initially assumed by the project.

In addition to Trump’s rolling soil to reshape the prospects between the two neighbors, Mexico has other reasons to seek energy independence.

Supply from the north was destroyed. In 2021, the power outage of Texas was extended for a week. Republican governor Greg Abbott instructs its natural gas providers not to ship outside the state.

The gas exports to Mexico had dropped by about 75 % through the pipeline.

However, the development of Mexico’s own resources is not a direct one.

PEMEX hopes to use service contracts to develop offshore fields. Partners’ partners pre -pre -project expectations are used by the country’s energy department before liberalization. This mechanism is cut by the former resource nationalist of Sheinbaum.

The development of Lakach will require private companies’ resources and professional knowledge. In recent years, the company has tried to restrict its participation.

Sources said that the lack of infrastructure that disappear natural gas tube is another problem.

It is planned to be placed on the spot from the scene for the first time in 2016, and then shelved again after the partner’s partner New Fortress Energy withdrew.