Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex said Monday it is struggling to meet a timetable for a deep-water exploration project as it tries to design contracts that attract foreign partners without violating a ban on profit-sharing partnerships.
Pemex, which desperately needs foreign help to explore potentially huge deep-water oil deposits as output from existing oil fields starts to decline, said in February it hoped to design "pilot-project" contracts this year to offer in a 2006 tender.
But with many opposition lawmakers still deeply suspicious of attempts to let foreign players into Mexico's closed energy sector, Pemex's exploration and production chief Carlos Morales said on Monday that timetable could not be counted on
Reuters
