Slim's Grupo Carso completes Petrobal acquisition

Grupo Carso, the Mexican conglomerate owned by multibillionaire Carlos Slim, has completed the US$530mn acquisition of local operator PetroBal, giving it a 50% share of two offshore oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a filing sent to the Mexican stock exchange BMV on Thursday, the company said it had obtained regulatory clearance for the deal and completed the transaction. 

As a result, Grupo Carso's 90%-owned subsidiary Zamajal has acquired 100% of PetroBal, which owns 50% stakes in the Pokoch and Ichalkil shallow water fields in development area 4 off the coast of Campeche. The fields produce around 16,350b/d of oil.

Other partners in the fields include Fieldwood Energy, the operator, and the Mexican state through hydrocarbons commission CNH.

Slim has recently stepped up his acquisitions in the Mexican oil and gas sector, acquiring a stake in Talos México, which holds a 17.4% interest in the promising Zama discovery off Tabasco state. 

This month, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Slim is interested in working with national oil company Pemex to develop the Lakach deepwater natural gas field.