Pemex will apply to Mexico's Energy Ministry to farm out two shallow-water offshore fields in the Sound of Campeche, the state company said Tuesday.
The fields, Ayin and Batsil, have proven reserves of 46 million barrels of oil equivalent and proven, probable and possible reserves of 281 million boe, Pemex said in a statement.
The Sound of Campeche is in the southern Gulf of Mexico, off the states of Tabasco and Campeche.
The country's National Hydrocarbons Commission will have to hold an auction for potential partners with Pemex on the Ayin-Batsil farm-out.
It would be only the second farm-out Pemex has applied for under the terms of the 2013-14 energy reform.
The first, Trion in the Perdido Fold Belt, is set for auction on December 5. Potential bidders include Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil and Total.
In what was known as Round Zero of the reform, Pemex was allocated a substantial amount of the nation's oil and natural gas resources for farm-outs and upstream alliances ahead of the upstream auctions open to the private sector.
Farm-outs were expected to be a big feature of the reform, but Pemex executives say that so far, an excess of red tape has slowed the process.
In its statement, Pemex said it would be an attractive partner in developing Ayin-Batsil because of its low production costs in shallow water and its local knowledge.
If all goes well, the state company added, the auction for the Ayin-Batsil farm-out would likely be held next March.
