Carlos Slim’s firm to invest in Mexican gas field

Carlos Slim, chairman emeritus of America Movil SAB, speaks during a press conference in Mexico City, Mexico, on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Last week, shares in Slim's tower company Operadora de Sites Mexicanos jumped by the most intraday in three months amid expectations the stock will be included in Mexico's benchmark stock index. Photographer: Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

MEXICO CITY: A company controlled by Mexico’s richest person, Carlos Slim, is investing US$1.2bil to develop a vast field in the Gulf of Mexico that is expected to produce gas around 2026, a potential model for how Mexico’s state oil company will work with private enterprise.

Slim’s Grupo Carso SAB agreed to a deal with Mexico’s state-run Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to explore and extract from Lakach, a deepwater field discovered in 2007 about 98km southeast of the city of Veracruz. Pemex will own the field and its reserves, while Grupo Carso will build an inland facility to store and process the gas and condensates.