Mexico announces discovery of rich oil deposit

Mexico has discovered new deepwater oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico with estimated reserves of 75 million to 125 million barrels, President Felipe Calderon announced Friday. Calderon said new deposit Supremus 1, the latest find by state-owned oil company Pemex, is located at 250 km east of Matamoros city in Tamaulipas state. It could be the largest oil field found in years with prospective reserves that could amount to as much as 13 billion barrels of crude equivalent. With a flow depth of almost 2,900 meters, Supremus 1 is the eighth-deepest deposit in the world and is the second oil deposit announced by Calderon in less than 40 days. On Aug. 29, Calderon announced the discovery of Trion 1, a deposit also located in the Gulf of Mexico less than 90 km from the northeastern Tamaulipas state. The deposits confirm the existence of a large oil system in the Gulf of Mexico's deep waters, said the Mexican president, adding Mexico would continue working on the 22 wells, among which 15 have already been drilled during his administration. Pemex is the world's seventh largest oil producer and the largest fiscal contributor of the country.