The national oil company said in a statement that Block 6 covered an area of about 559 sq km in water depths of between 30 and 80 metres.
The block will be operated by PC Carigali Mexico in a 50:50 partnership with Ecopetrol, the national oil company of Colombia.
Petronas executive vice president and chief executive officer (upstream) Datuk Anuar Taib said: “I am pleased with our new partnership with Ecopetrol and I am confident this will bring together our capabilities and expertise for a successful collaboration in the Mexico waters.”
Last year, Petronas was awarded deep-water Block 4 and Block 5 in a joint-venture partnership following Mexico’s first ever auction of its deep water exploration areas.
Petronas vice president of exploration (upstream) Emeliana Rice-Oxley noted that Mexico was largely underexplored and held substantial material opportunities.
“We are very pleased to add Block 6 to our growing exploration portfolio in Mexico, and be one of the early movers in this basin. This is aligned with our strategy to explore for material oil in largely underexplored prospective regions,” she said.
With a total of 5,491 sq km in gross acreage in the Salina Basin to date, Petronas will continue to chart its growth strategy in Mexico, to be supported by a new office in Mexico City that will start operations in the third quarter of 2017.