Mexico's Pemex Renews Scientific Accord with ExxonMobil

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said Wednesday it signed a noncommercial agreement with Exxon Mobil Corp. to share technical and scientific information of mutual interest.

Pemex said in a press release that the five-year agreement renews the two oil companies' relations in matters of cooperation. "The goal of this agreement is to define our collaboration in the areas of investigation, scientific development, technical and human resources in exploration, drilling, production, transportation and storage of hydrocarbons," the statement said.

Pemex said the accord did not represent any type of service agreement and did not involve compensation.

Pemex is one of the top oil producers in the world, with about 2.55 million barrels of crude oil a day, along with natural gas production, refineries and other operations. Pemex's biggest operations are in the "easy oil" areas of the shallow southern waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where production has been declining for the last eight years.

ExxonMobil is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, and produces in nonconventional areas like the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico on the U.S. side. Pemex is just starting exploration in the deep waters of the Mexican side of the Gulf.

Mexico's new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, is negotiating an energy overhaul with legislators to draw more private investment while bolstering the finances of Pemex, which gives nearly all of its profits to the federal government for its budget.

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