Last week, the Mexican government announced that it will open its oil resources to domestic and foreign private investors. Now, various U.S. petroleum companies are eyeing a piece of the pie.

For 76 years, Mexico's oil resources were state-controlled, run by Petróleos Mexicanos, also known as Pemex, Fox News Latino reports. On Aug. 11, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a bill allowing private companies to bid on Mexico's oil reserves, according to Forbes, although Pemex will still control 83 percent of the country's "proven and probable reserves," which total about 20.6 billion barrels of crude oil equivalent, The New York Times reports.

"The energy reform opens a great opportunity for Mexico, and we need to seize it with complete and fast implementation," Peña Nieto said, according to Forbes. "I've told different areas of the government to accelerate all of the measures necessary to put this reform into action for the good of Mexico."

Now, Mexico is trying to lure foreign investors.

"This is definitely a good thing for Mexico," Claudia Pessagno, a senior equity analyst at HIS who specializes in Latin America, told FNL. "Pemex can't really handle the load, and they don't have the technology to develop new sites as they stand right now."

Pemex hopes to help U.S. companies tap into the Gulf of Mexico, something which the company lacks technological and financial resources to do alone. U.S. companies interested in Mexican oil include ExxonMobil, Chevron, OG Resources Inc and ConocoPhillips.

"We will pursue potential investment opportunities in Mexico that are competitive with other opportunities around the world," an ExxonMobil spokesperson told Wall Street Journal.

"We are not here to replace Pemex," Ali Moshiri, Chevron president of Latin America and Africa, told Bloomberg. "We are here to complement what they are doing. ... We look for the opportunity that brings the most value to the Mexican government, the Mexican people, and our shareholders. We are a huge company. We can invest money in conventional, deepwater, or shallow water. What drives our decision is really to see what is the best for everybody."

With foreign investment, Mexico aims to reach an output of 3 million barrels by 2018 and 3.5 million barrels by 2025, FNL reports.
---

Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

Related