(Un)expected diversification: Kuwaiti company invests in Mexico's energy sector

A Kuwaiti exploration company said it signed a memorandum of understanding to work alongside its counterparts in the Mexican energy sector.

Kufpec, the upstream subsidiary of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp., signed the deal with an international division of Petroleos Mexicanos, known also as PEMEX, for exploration and production work in Mexico.

Kufpec Chief Executive Officer Nawaf Saud Al-Nasir said in a statement Saturday the deal came “as a result of the recently enacted energy reform in Mexico.”

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is drawing international energy companies into the nation’s energy sector by breaking up the 70-year-old Pemex monopoly on the energy sector.

A study from the US Energy Information Administration said Mexico should produce around 2.9 million barrels of oil per day through 2020 under the reform agenda, erasing expected declines without the reforms.

Peña Nieto set a goal of producing 3.5 million barrels of oil per day by 2025, which would be a 40 percent increase from 2013 levels.