Mexico Weighing Pemex-Petrobras Partnership to Develop Deepwater Plays in Gulf: Sheinbaum

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday said her administration is reviewing a proposed partnership between state-owned oil company Pemex and Brazil’s Petrobras to develop deepwater oil and natural fields in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We have not decided, but President Lula proposed it,” Sheinbaum told reporters in her daily news briefing.

She said Petrobras Chief Executive Magda Chambriard is expected to visit Mexico in April and will meet with her, Pemex Director Víctor Rodríguez and Energy Minister Luz Elena González, to discuss the potential collaborations.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last week said he had suggested the alliance to Sheinbaum, citing Petrobras’ expertise in developing deepwater plays.

Sheinbaum said Mexico in recent years has not discovered a field comparable to the giant Cantarell play in the Campeche Sound, and Pemex next year is expected to cap crude output at 1.8 million b/d “for rational and environmental reasons.”

“Mexico must continue increasing exploration of new fields. This could be an option with Petrobras, but we will see,” she said.

The Cantarell complex, which began operating in 1979, was once the world’s second-largest oil field but output has fallen sharply from its 2004 peak.

In its 2025-2035 strategic plan, Pemex estimated Mexico has 113 billion barrels of oil equivalent in a number of prospective plays. Of those, 57% are in unconventional and 21% are in the Gulf of Mexico.

Brazilian oil company Petrobras in 2025 reached a crude output of 2.4 million b/d, up 11% from 2024, according to company reports.

Reporting by´ José Luis Adriano, jadriano@opisnet.com; Editing by Karla Omaña, komana@opisnet.com; and Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com