KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's state-owned oil company Petronas said Wednesday that its Mexico unit PC Carigali Mexico had won a shallow water Block 6 in the Gulf of Mexico's Salina Basin.
Petronas said in a statement that Block 6 covers an area of about 559 square km in water depths of between 30 and 80 meters.
The block will be operated by PC Carigali Mexico in a 50 to 50 partnership with Ecopetrol, the national oil company of Colombia, it added.
Petronas' Vice President Emeliana Rice-Oxley said Mexico is largely underexplored and holds substantial material opportunities.
"We are very pleased to add Block 6 to our growing exploration portfolio in Mexico, and be one of the early movers in this basin," he said. "This is aligned with our strategy to explore for material oil in largely underexplored prospective regions."
In 2016, Petronas was awarded deep water Block 4 and Block 5 in a joint venture partnership following Mexico's first ever auction of its deep water exploration areas.
With a total of 5,491 square km in gross acreage in the Salina Basin to date, Petronas will continue to chart its growth strategy in Mexico, the company said.
