• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 09 / 14 / 2011

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In a turnaround from its Mexico-only approach, state oil company Pemex is planning to participate in a series of activities abroad, including offshore drilling in neighboring Cuba, Mexican daily La Jornada reported.

The news comes after Pemex announced early this month it spent $1.6 billion to raise its stake in Spanish oil company Repsol YPF from 4.8 percent to 9.8 percent, with the idea of creating a strategic partnership.

Objectives behind the move, according to a Pemex document obtained by La Jornada, include piggybacking with Repsol in exploration in Cuban waters as well as in the United States, Brazil and Colombia; obtaining exploration technology; opening an office in Singapore and beginning crude exports to new markets such as China and India; and seeking to build latest-generation tankers in Korean shipyards. In raising its stake, Pemex said it will unite its votes on the Repsol board of directors with those of Spanish construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso, which owns 20 percent of Repsol’s shares.

Petróleos Mexicanos has been a political bone of contention between privatizers and nationalists for at least the past decade. The company’s recent move is a hint that Mexican officials may now try to take a page from the successful global strategy of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras.

Source: www.cubastandard.com/2011/09/13/