Mexico's state-owned oil company has awarded its first batch of production-and-exploration contracts for depleted oil fields to a Mexican firm and a British-based company, AP reported. The director of Petroleos Mexicanos says two contracts in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco are going to London-based Petrofac Facilities Management Ltd. Another Tabasco field is assigned to the Mexican company Administradora en Proyectos de Campos. Director Juan Jose Suarez Coppel says the fields can yield as many as 50,000 barrels a day using the right technology. The new contracts allow greater private involvement in Mexico's tightly controlled oil industry. Payment to the contractors will be based in part on performance. Other similar contracts are expected. -- SPA
