The largest offshore oil platform to be built in Mexico in 10 years left the port of Altamira, Tamaulipas, yesterday bound for Campeche Bay.

The US $454-million shallow-water rig, called PB-ABKATUN-A2, was built entirely in Tamaulipas by United States engineering company McDermott for the state oil company Pemex.

At a ceremony to see off the new platform, Tamaulipas Governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca said the state was the biggest beneficiary of the energy reforms introduced by the federal government.

“We have the largest gas and oil deposits, the largest shallow-water, deep-water and ultra-deep-water deposits in the Gulf of Mexico and these kinds of projects will continue to take place in Tamaulipas,” he said.

García explained that 40% of a forecast US $2-billion investment in new energy projects will go to the northern border state.

Tamaulipas’ leadership in the petroleum sector, its proximity to the United States oil market, the availability of already-trained specialized labor and growing infrastructure all make the state an attractive place to invest, he said.

“We are blessed by all the natural wealth we have, especially in fossil fuels but the best thing this great state has is its people, working people like you who have made it possible for this platform to go out to sea today,” García told engineers and laborers who worked on the project.

Oil production in Mexico has been in decline for over a decade but the recent discovery of reserves with up to 180 million barrels of crude oil in shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico are expected to boost output.

President-elect López Obrador has pledged to “rescue” the energy sector and put an end to reliance on oil imports.

Among his plans for oil industry are to build a new oil refinery on the coast of Tabasco and upgrade the six existing ones.

Source: Notimex (sp)