By Eliane Portillo

Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP) announced that it will invest approximately eight billion dollars in oil projects in deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tabasco and Veracruz from 2012 to 2026.

According to information of PEP, the initial investment of the project will be of $113.450 billion pesos, of which $110.924 billion pesos will be used for strategic investment, while $2.526 billion will be used for operational investment. The aim is to confirm the prospective resources of the area indicated by the Exploration Project Ruling, as reported by the National Commission of Hydrocarbons.

PEMEX plans to drill, at least 71 wells at depths of between 500 and 3,200 meters. During the project, and according to studies made and to be developed, could propose a greater scope for the project.

It is worth mentioning that exploration is part of the Cantarell project, whose objective is the incorporation of additional reserves of hydrocarbons, the exploitation of the natural gas produced in association with oil and increase of crude oil production