Dec 31 (Yomiuri Shimbun) - Japan has acquired exclusive exploration rights in Mexico's coastal Chicontepec oil field, known as one of the world's largest natural oil reserves, government sources said Monday.
If the exploration project, to be formally announced in January, is successful, Japan will be able to import as much as 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day--the equivalent of about 15 percent of its oil overall imports.
By necessity, Japan purchases almost all of its crude oil from abroad, mostly from the Middle East. The Mexican oil development project will be the largest of its kind for Japan, thus helping the world's second largest economy diversify its oil supply sources and enhance its energy security.
It is customary in oil development projects for companies that have exploration rights eventually to be given the right to extract crude oil for commercial shipments. If this tradition holds in the Chicontepec project, Japan will be entitled to tap one-third of the proven oil reserves there.
According to surveys conducted by the Mexican government and other parties, Chicontepec--an onshore oil field stretching along the Gulf of Mexico--is estimated to have reserves exceeding 70 billion barrels, surpassing the world's largest known reserves of about 66 billion barrels in Saudi Arabia's offshore oil field of Ghawar.
It will be Mexico's first oil development deal to be undertaken by a foreign concern. The Latin American country used to keep to a policy of assigning domestic companies to develop crude oil and natural gas fields within its territory.
In 2001, the Mexican government decided to utilize foreign capital to meet the growing need for oil and natural gas generated by the country's rapid industrialization. For its part, the Mexican government, wary of domination of oil development by major international oil companies, approached Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC) in December to launch a joint exploration project in the Chicontepec area. JNOC, which is internationally recognized as competitive with the world's major oil companies in oil exploration, agreed to the Mexican offer.
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Gulf Arab Leaders Sign Economic Union Deal
MUSCAT, Dec 31 (AFP via energy24.com) - Leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Monday signed an agreement to unite their economies, covering customs tariffs and a single market and currency.
One after the other the rulers or representatives of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates signed the document in the televised closing session of a two-day summit.
They had approved the agreement behind closed doors, GCC secretary general Jamil Al-Hujailan said.