Mexico’s oil major Pemex will spend US$23 billion next year, up 14 percent on 2018, with focus on already producing fields in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico as well as refining, Mexico’s 2019 budget blueprint has revealed, as reported by Reuters. Half of the total will be directed towards exploration and production, with some onshore deposits also benefitting from the investment alongside shallow-water blocks. Exploration in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, however, will be put on hold. Pemex’s chief executive Octavio Romero noted at the presentation of the budget blueprint that so far, deepwater exploration has not produced particularly impressive results. “At best we’d have the first drop of oil by 2025,” Romero said, after noting that the two previous governments had spent 41 percent of total Pemex investments in deepwater exploration. Mexico’s oil production is on a stable decline due to lack […]