Grupo Carso announced on July 16 the acquisition of TotalEnergies' 30 percent stake in Block 30 of the Gulf of Mexico, where the Kan field is located. The subsidiary Mx Delta NRG 1 will hold the interest; Harbour Energy retains the remaining 70 percent as operator of the asset.
This transaction is part of a sequence of oil acquisitions by the Mexican conglomerate. In January 2026, Carso acquired Fieldwood Mexico from Russian company Lukoil for $270 million, gaining full control of the Ichalkil and Pokoch fields in the shallow waters of the Gulf. The group also holds a stake in the Zama field, operated by the same Harbour Energy, and maintains service contracts with Pemex in the Ixachi, Lakach, and Macavil assignments. Carlos Slim, whose fortune is estimated at approximately $128 billion according to the Bloomberg index, has established Carso as Pemex's largest private partner in exploration and production.
Block 30 was awarded in April 2018 through bidding round 3.1 of the Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos, under a production-sharing contract in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. TotalEnergies entered at that point as a non-operating partner with a 30 percent stake, while Harbour Energy assumed operatorship. The transaction, notified to the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores on July 16, will be executed through subsidiary Mx Delta NRG 1. The deal's value was not disclosed in the regulatory filing. Closing is subject to obtaining the relevant government approvals. TotalEnergies has not publicly communicated the reasons for its exit from the Mexican asset.
Carso's entry into Block 30, combined with the January acquisition of Lukoil's assets, signals that Mexican private capital maintains an appetite for exploration and production stakes in the Gulf's shallow waters. Direct equity acquisitions, such as this one and the Fieldwood deal, are emerging as the preferred route through which private operators expand their footprint in Mexico's hydrocarbons sector.
This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.