Oil's Heavy Hitters Line Up to Dive Into Mexico's Deep Waters

  • Mexico to auction 29 deep-sea exploration zones on Jan. 31
  • Pemex, Exxon, Shell are among drillers contemplating bids

Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg

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If you’re a super-major oil explorer, Mexico says it’s got a bargain for you.

The once-giant crude nation whose output plunged in the past decade is enticing the world’s richest explorers with cut-rate prices for drilling rights to its most coveted offshore fields. The Jan. 31 auction for access to 29 deep-water tracts comes as $70-a-barrel crude lifts foreign drillers from the worst market slump in decades.