10 December 2016, 17:36 GMT
MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Mexico’s economy will profit from investments worth $34 billion as a result of eight new oil tender contracts, the country’s Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said.
"Mexico will now have the giants of crude oil production," Coldwell said on Friday, as quoted by W Radio Mexico, at the conclusion of the fourth stage of the first round of oil tenders.
Seven new contracts were signed on Friday, while one more was signed last week. The seven contracts cover an oil field area of 17,000 square kilometers (6,564 square miles) with prospective resources for around 2.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The companies that will benefit from the new contracts include China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the French Total oil and gas company, ExxonMobil and the British BP, among others.
The tenders are part of an energy industry reform launched by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in 2013.
