Italian energy company Eni has announced the discovery of an oil field off the coast of southeastern Mexico that could contain 200 million barrels of crude.

The oil “supermajor” said Friday that the new discovery was in a mid-deep water section of the Cuenca Salina in the Sureste Basin, located in the Gulf of Mexico.

“According to preliminary estimates, the new finding may contain around 200 million barrels of oil in place,” Eni said in a statement.

The Italian multinational has a 45% stake in the exploration block where the field is located, while British firm Capricorn Energy has a 30% share. Mexico’s Citla Energy has the remaining 25% stake.

Eni said the new discovery is located approximately 65 kilometers off the coast and 25 to 30 km from other fields it has found.

The company has been present in Mexico since 2006 and established its wholly-owned subsidiary Eni México in 2015.

“Currently Eni holds rights in eight exploration and production blocks (six as the operator), all located in the Sureste Basin in the Gulf of Mexico” it said.

After ending a 75-year state monopoly in the energy sector, the previous federal government held a series of oil and gas auctions at which foreign and private companies bought exploration and exploitation rights.

No auctions have been held since President López Obrador – a fierce critic of the 2014 energy reform – took office in late 2018. On Thursday he said that 110 contracts were issued to foreign and Mexican companies, but oil production hasn’t met expectations.

“They calculated that we were going to have extraction of about 3 million barrels per day … [but] their production doesn’t exceed 50,000 barrels,” López Obrador said.

On Saturday, the President will lead an event in Mexico City’s central square to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the nationalization of Mexico’s oil industry.

His government has sought to reassert Mexico’s energy sovereignty by implementing policies that favor the state-owned oil company Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission over foreign and private firms.

Mexico News Daily