Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim said on Tuesday that a deepwater natural gas project his company Grupo Carso agreed to develop alongside state-run oil company Pemex is "irrational," raising questions about the future of the project.
The Lakach field in the Gulf of Mexico would be the country's first deepwater natural gas project, and Pemex had twice given up on it before signing an agreement with Grupo Carso in 2024. Slim has since said the project is complicated, and a Carso official said in October the company was reviewing the project's feasibility.
His comments on Tuesday, at his foundation's annual press conference in Mexico City, indicated ongoing concerns. "We were looking at everything. And it turns out it is irrational," Slim said, noting the same gas could be accessed onshore.
"So, (it's) irrational to start acting and operating in one place when there's a place on land," Slim said.
When asked if Grupo Carso will exit the project, he answered: "We never entered." Mexico is seeking to increase its natural gas production to decrease dependence on the United States, and is looking into options for fracking despite past opposition to the controversial technique.
Slim, whose businesses span telecommunications, mining and retail, has bolstered his footprint in the energy sector in recent years by taking stakes in shallow-water fields Zama, Ichalkil and Pokoch.
However, he said he was not seeking more projects with Pemex for now.
"We're saturated," he said.
Lakach, located some 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the gulf port of Veracruz, holds an estimated 900 billion cubic feet of gas. Pressure is low at the existing well there, making production a challenge.
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison and Adriana Barrera; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Kylie Madry and Stephen Coates)
